


Waiting Around To Die

by TheBrothersRowe



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Brody and Violet were taken instead, F/F, F/M, I lied, Lots of twists folks, Minerva is romanceable, Twins are here, major character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2019-08-10 21:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 36,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16462835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrothersRowe/pseuds/TheBrothersRowe
Summary: "I can't go hunting, Tenn got a fever." Minerva spoke, standing in front of the dormitory doors. Marlon tsked, shaking his head, "Told the kid not to try and draw outside.". Violet scoffed, elbowing him, "Leave him alone Marlon, kid wants to draw outside, let him.". Violet looked at her girlfriend, folding her arms, "I'll fill in for you today.". A surprised look crossed the ginger's face, "Are you sure? You were out last time.". "What's one more hunting trip?" Violet shrugged, leaning forward, kissing her girlfriend on the cheek before walking off after Marlon and Brody. Minnie smiled, waving her off, and Violet waved back."I'll see you later. Rooftops."On pause until Episode 4 releasesLittle did she know...that would be the last time she'd ever see her girlfriend.Takes place right after 'Fates Intertwined'





	1. I'll See You Later

"I can't go hunting, Tenn got a fever." Minerva spoke, standing in front of the dormitory doors. Sophie was inside right now with Ruby, treating their poor sick little brother. Marlon tsked, shaking his head, "Told the kid not to try and draw outside.". Violet scoffed, elbowing him, "Leave him alone Marlon, kid wants to draw outside, let him.". Violet looked at her girlfriend, folding her arms, "I'll fill in for you today.". A surprised look crossed the ginger's face, "Are you sure? You were out last time.". "What's one more hunting trip?" Violet shrugged, leaning forward, kissing her girlfriend on the cheek before walking off after Marlon and Brody. Minnie smiled, waving her off, and Violet waved back.

"I'll see you later. Rooftops."

Minerva looked over confused, hearing yelling outside. What the hell? An annoyed sigh left Ruby's lips, the red head shaking her head. "What on Earth have them boys gettin' themselves into now?" Ruby asked, standing up, dusting her hands off onto her shirt. "Knowing them anything." Sophie remarked, getting up off the floor. The girl stretched, before adjusting her ball cap on her head, turning to leave the room. She stopped though, facing the other two girls in the room. "You coming?" Sophie asked. Minnie looked at her sister, then her sleeping brother. Leaning forward, she placed the back of her palm on his forehead, finding his fever had died down. Giving a small smile, the girl stood up, "Let's go.". Sophie opened the door, leaving it with the two.

Leaving the dorms was a mistake. Everything was in complete chaos. All of others were shouting over each other, crowding around something. "Fucking boys." Sophie groaned, walking forward, pushing past the crowd, "Step aside Aasim!". Minerva looked at the crowd, a bad feeling growing in her gut. She didn't like this.

Following her sister through the crowd, Minnie began pushing through the other students, until she finally made her way to the front of the crowd. To her surprise she found Louis and Marlon in the middle of a shouting match, both clearly freaked out. When the Hell had Marlon gotten back?

"What's going on here?!" Sophie shouted, catching the boys attention. Louis flinched, turning to the twins in alarm. Marlon slowly looked up, a guilt ridden look over his face. It only got worse when he made eye contact with Minerva. The ginger girl felt the bad feeling grow as she looked around, finding Violet and Brody gone. "Marlon, where's Violet..?" Minerva asked, dreading the answer. Their leader stood, grimacing as he looked past the gates. "T-Their gone..." Was all he could utter out.

Minerva felt her blood turn into ice, gray-green eyes widening in horror. "W-What..?" She could barely muster the words. Sophie looked wide eyed, stunned with horror. "How..how the fuck did this happen?!" Mitch shouted, going to move forward. Aasim and Sophie quickly yanked him back, freaked. "Mitch, calm down!" Aasim attempted to calm to taller boy down, only to be shoved back with Sophie. Sophie glared, getting up, standing in front of Mitch. "What the fuck are you doing?!" Mitch growled out. "All of us crowding him isn't doing shit, and neither is pushing everyone around!" Sophie shouted, casting a glance to Aasim. Luckily, Ruby was already helping him up off the concrete. 

"We deserve to know!" Mitch exclaimed. "He's right, we all deserve to know!" Willy remarked. "I don't care if Brody was your girlfriend Mitch, ganging up on Marlon won't do shit!" Sophie snapped, striking a nerve with the brunette. Before either of them could throw a punch, Marlon finally spoke.

"It was walkers!" He shouted, catching the groups attention, everyone turning to him shocked. A look of horror on everyone's face. Brody and Violet taken out by walkers? Christ, it was unreal... No one could believe it, especially with Violet. The girl was so strong, everyone expected her to live the longest.

Minerva couldn't process anything around her anymore, everything had gone quiet, and all she could think about was Violet. 

"I'll see you later. Rooftops." Only an hour ago she said those words to her. Only an hour ago she kissed her, and waved her goodbye... only an hour ago...she saw her.

Louis barely caught the ginger girl in time, letting out a shocked cry as her knees buckled. Sophie looked away from Mitch, a worried expression crossing her features. "Minnie..." Rushing over, she was at her twin's side, frowning. Tears ran down her sister's freckled cheeks, soft whimpers parting her lips. "Shit, Minnie." Sophie held her arms out, and Louis let out, allowing her to hold her younger twin close. Weak sobs left the girl, Minnie turning to hide her face in her sister's jean jacket.

She'd never be able to mess with Violet's blonde locks. Admire those eyes that told a hell of a story. Feel her soft lips. Hold her hands. Search for constellations on the rooftops with her. Give her kisses under the light of the moon.

"What...what do we do...?" Omar hesitantly asked, turning attention onto him. "What do you mean by that?" Ruby questioned. Omar glanced over to the side of the admin building, giving a soft sigh. "We don't have any bodies to bury. They deserve a burial." Omar stated. The others nodded in agreement, but seemed just as lost as him on what to do. At least with...the others... there was a body.

"We bury their belongings." Marlon spoke. Everyone gave a small nod, not knowing what else to do. Slowly everyone left, heading back to either go somewhere to process the horrible truth, or start gathering the two girl's things. You think they would be weeping, and balling just as Minerva was. But here, everyone had suffered some issues in the past, unless you were one of the lucky few. They all had their own ways of grieving. Whether it be by crying, being enraged, or even cutting yourself off emotionally...they all had ways of grieving....

However...the news of Brody and Violet's death made some unpleasant thoughts rise.

How long were they going to be waiting around to die?


	2. The Girl With D On Her Hat

An entire year had passed. But to Minerva, it felt even longer. It was still hard to believe that Violet...her Violet was gone. Shaking her head, Minnie sighed softly to herself. “I should’ve been there.” Her pale eyes looked forward, a depressed sigh leaving her. “Dammit…” She sniffled, holding her head in her hands.

 

“I thought wallowing in despair was Omar’s thing.’” The ginger looked up startled hearing a voice. Standing a few feet from her was Sophie. Minerva looked away from her sister, leaving Sophie unsatisfied. “No, no, don’t you dare think you can ignore me Minerva Elizabeth Greenclover.” Sophie smirked, making Minerva scoff.

 

Jesus, she hated heard that name in ages. She forgot how much she hated their last name too. It was so extra for no reason.

 

Ignoring the obvious signs of Minerva wanting to be alone, Sophie sat beside her, a smile on her face. “Come on, take to your little sister. I might be able to make you feel better.” Sophie grinned. God, as much as she didn’t want to smile, she did. Sophie was just a ray of sunshine. It was probably good considering how sad Minerva was now, and Tenn, well Tennessee was Tennessee.

 

“Talk to me sis.”

 

The two sisters made eye contact, and Minerva finally sighed. “It’s been a year, Soph...since...since…” Minerva’s voice wavered, and the girl shook her head. Sophie frowned, putting a hand on Minerva’s shoulder.

 

“Let it out Minnie. We all… it hurt all of us with what happened to them, but you aren’t alone Minerva.” Sophie stated, making Minnie sigh. Sophie was right.

 

Every since day one, the others really showed how much they cared. Louis would always make her laugh and smile with his dumb jokes, but the second she needed someone to listen, he was there.

 

Ruby could come off rough, but was a real sweetheart. Always checking up on her and willing to take her shifts if needed. 

 

Omar and Aasim were surprising helps too. While they hunted, Aasim would let her ramble on about whatever came to her mind for hours on end, no matter the topic. Louis was great to speak to, but sometimes she just wanted someone to listen, not comment back or anything. Just….genuinely listen to her.

 

“I…. fuck, I miss her so much Sophie. I miss her so much, every single day I’m not with her it hurts. It hurts…. Fuck, I want my Vi back...” Minerva whimpered, hanging her head low. Two arm wrapped around her, and she knew it was her sister. Sophie softly hummed, running her fingers through Minnie’s hair. Heh, the younger twin always complained that her voice was never as good as Minerva’s voice, bullshit.

 

Sophie would have stayed there all day with her sister if she could, but that was stopped upon hearing yelling. It sounded like Louis and Marlon judging by the hopeless squealing. God, what were those idiots doing now? Checking up on her sister one last time, the twins headed off the roof, making their way to the courtyard.

 

Everyone else was already in the courtyard, gazing curiously at the center of the courtyard. The twins walked forward, looking down at their younger brother. “What’s going on?” Minerva asked. The young boy pointed forward, his finger landing on the area between the gates.

 

Marlon and Louis rushed in, both looking absolutely exhausted. Much to everyone’s surprise, the two boys had a body in their arms. Louis holding a young boy, a look of concern on his face. The poor boy only looked a few years younger than Willy and Tennessee. Meanwhile, in Marlon’s arms, was a girl roughly there age. Blood pooled down the side of her face, concerning them.

 

No one wasted a second on bombarding the two with questions.

 

“Who are they?”, “What happened? Are they going to make it?”, “Why did you bring them here? You know the rules, you made them Marlon!”.

 

Minerva found herself stepping forward, a strange feeling of protection coming out of her upon seeing the new two. “Everyone shut the fuck up! What we need to worry about is making sure they live! They aren’t a danger to us like this, so suck it the fuck up!” Minerva exclaimed. This thankfully got everyone quiet. 

 

With that done, Minerva turned her attention to the two boys. “I’ll help Ruby get them somewhere clean, you two should clean up.” Minerva spoke, looking at the boys clothes. Louis looked himself over, then turned to Marlon.

 

“She’s got a point, dude.” Louis stated, making Marlon huff. “Come get me if anything changes.

 

Minerva nodded, taking the taller girl. Her brows raised, seeing the girl’s ballcap.  _ What on earth did it stand for?  _ Adjusting her grip on the girl, Minnie removed the girl’s had, that way it wouldn’t be stuck to her head from the blood. “Don’t worry, we’re gonna take care of you and your boy, promise.” The ginger softly whispered.

 

Sophie stood behind her, her pale eyes widening. Holy shit. She hadn’t seen Minnie look at anyone like that since...since Vi.

 

_ Oh shit. _


	3. A Girl and Her Boy

The girl laid silently on the bed, her head wrapped up, and wrist taped to the bed frame. No one questioned Marlon’s logic, it was a smart and safe way to keep someone down if...if they turned. Minnie shook her head, holding her head in her hands, swearing softly. Without thinking, she had offered to watch the girl since the young boy had already woken up and was with Louis and Ruby. Taking her face from her hands, she looked at the unconscious girl with a perplexed expression.

 

Minerva had no idea why, but she felt almost responsible for this girl and boy. It didn’t bother her that she didn’t know, but still…

 

_ Why? _

 

A soft groan caught her attention, snapping her out of her thoughts. Standing up quickly, she headed to the side of the bed, watching the girl wake up. “Ugh….” She softly groaned, slowly opening her eyes.

 

“Careful, that was a pretty nasty cut you had back there.” Minerva spoke as gently as she could. Despite her tone being gentle, the girl shoot up, hissing in pain. “Hey, careful, you’ll only hurt yourself more. I won’t hurt you, cross my heart.” Minerva said, doing the ‘X’ motion over her chest whilst holding her right hand up in swear.

 

The girl stared at her long and hard, “What are you, 12 for doing that..?”. Minnie cracked a small smile, looking at the tape on her wrist. “If I cut it off, will you promise not to attack me?” She questioned. The girl looked at her for a moment, then the tape on her wrist.

 

“Fine.”

 

Smiling, Minerva leaned forward, cutting the tape off of her wrist. The girl let out a breath, rubbing her wrist, “Thank you.”. Minnie nodded, putting her knife back. 

 

“So, we never got your name.” Minnie spoke after an awkward few seconds of silence passed. The new girl lifted her head up, facing the tall ginger. “Clementine, the names Clementine.” She said. Minerva smiled, “Nice name, I’m Minerva.”. She held out a hand, and Clem immediately noticed that tattoo like feature on the girls left hand. Although it was more pen layered over constantly than an official tattoo. 

 

_ V + M circled around in a heart. _

 

“What’s that?”.

 

Startled by the question, Minerva jolted her hand back, looking at Clementine hesitantly. Clem’s amber eyes widened a bit in surprise, grimacing softly at the reaction. “I’m sorry, I overstepped my boundaries.” She knew how painful it was to lose someone close. Hell, she knew more than most people. Pale fingers traced over the tattoo, Minerva silently parting her lips with a sigh.

 

_ “What else do you want from me, Minnie? We already cut each other’s hair, and not to well I might add.” Violet said, causing a laugh to part from Minerva’s lips. The ginger shook her head, a rosy blush coating her cheeks at she inched towards Violet.  _

 

_ They were on their favorite spot in the entire school, the rooftops. The view alone was to just die for. Forest spread out for miles and a gorgeous view of the stars at the perfect time of night. _

 

_ Violet noticed Minerva move closer, her face reddening as well. “W-What are you doing..?” God, Vi tried to put on this badass 15 year old exterior all the time, but Minnie knew how to get her flustered. _

 

_ “Well… I thought since Mitch stole the whole promise ring idea for him and Brody, I thought we could do our own thing.” The way Violet’s face glowed in the moonlight made Minerva’s heart leap. Her sparkling gray-green eyes, ribbon like platinum blonde hair, and soft fair skin. God, seeing her in this light only made her idea more firm. _

 

_ Taking her girlfriend’s hand, Minnie took out a pen and wrote on Violet’s hand. A soft giggle left Violet, unable to contain her laughter as Minerva drew on her hand. No one besides Minerva and Louis knew this, but Violet was extremely weak to tickling. She found out on accident while they were snuggling. _

 

_ “Hold still, Lavender!” Minerva scolded her playfully, holding Violet’s arm still with hers. The two giggled, and Minnie finished. “There, you can move now.” Minnie said, making Violet playfully shove her, “Careful, you’ll smug it!”. _

 

_ Violet rolled her eyes, and looked at her hand. Gray-green eyes widened in absolute aw, staring at ‘V+M’. “That’s just the prototype phase, I was thinking about asking Sophie for an official brand des-” Minerva was cut off by a hug, gasping softly. _

 

_ “I love it.” Violet whispered, making her face redden. _

 

Minerva stared at the tattoo on her hand, some of the ink had worn off. Lifting her head back up, she took a breath to relax herself. “Let’s go get you to your boy, he must be worried about you.” Minnie said, making Clem gasp in shock, remembering the young boy.

 

The two walked outside, the warm rays of the sun beating down on them. Clem looked around in surprise, seeing all the kids roaming about. Minerva couldn’t help but smirk at the girl’s sheer wonder. She was about to ask Clementine a question, when she saw him walk over to them. Ah him, the leader himself. Marlon.

 

“Minerva! I thought I told you to tell me when the new kid wakes up. You’re making it look like I don’t know what I’m doing.” She knew Marlon was teasing her, but Minerva couldn’t help but feel a bit petty.

 

“Well I was making the new girl feel safe here. Wouldn’t look good to just offer her to our leader on a platter, now would it? Also her name is Clementine.” She stated, making Marlon gaze at her stunned. Even Clementine was stunned,  _ maybe this place wouldn’t be so bad after all.  _ Marlon took a moment to gather himself, coughing nervously.

 

“Anyway, you can find your kid with Louis.” Marlon explained, making Clem raise a brow. Minnie smirked, nudging the girl to follow her. Clementine decided it was best not to ask any questions and followed her.

 

Both headed inside of the admin building. Music filled the room immediately, making Clem raise a brow. “That would be Louis.” Minerva explained, “Our local musician and what not.”.  _ And her best friend. _ Nodding, Clem was about to head in, when she noticed a pair of yellow plastic flowers. Minnie noticed, awkwardly putting her hands in her pockets. 

 

“You can keep them, if you want. Sophie was supposed to use them to decorate some things, but I guess you can have it. I mean it.” Minerva softly said, looking away as a faint blush coated her cheeks. Clementine flashed her a smile, pocketing the pair of flowers. The taller girl went to open her mouth to question it, but ended up relenting, deciding it was best not to question her.

 

They walked down the hallway, where Ruby stormed out, holding her arm. “Ah, that little motherfucker!” Ruby yelled, turning over to see Minerva and Clementine approaching, “Hey, hey!”.

 

_ Steel your ovaries. _

 

“Hey Rubes.” The taller ginger was ignored as Ruby stomped over to Clem, giving the girl a stern yelling. Minnie was impressed that Clem held her ground, stating ‘Don’t sneak up on him.’. Ruby scowled, storming off. A fit of laughter left Minerva as the two walked into the piano room. “Oh my god. I’ve never seen her so red.” Minnie giggled.

 

Louis sat at the piano, making gentle and swift motions as he played the piano. The young boy perked up upon hearing the door open, immediately rushing over and embracing Clementine. Minerva watched them for a moment, feeling her heart flutter.

 

Despite only knowing her for a short time, Minerva had a lot in common with this girl. Understanding the pain of losing someone close to you and having a young child to look after. God, Minnie didn’t know what she’d do if she ever lost Tennessee or Sophie. Her pale eyes wandered onto Clementine, a new sense of admiration filling her.


	4. Purple and Blue

“Alright people! Get in gear, we’re going to have to clear a path for the others!” Marlon announced, walking out with his bow. The others nodded, and Marlon looked at Clementine, who was armed. Nodding to the new comer, Marlon was the first out, followed by Louis.

 

Minnie turned around, smiling at her, “You have this handled.”. Giving Clem a small nod, Minnie stepped out, sliding out her dual hatchets. Clem had seen people use axs before, but two at once was a hell of an interesting idea.

 

“Clem, monsters!” AJ shouted, pointing at the walkers. Clementine watched amused, seeing the other kids handling themselves perfectly. She must admit, this was impressive. Wait, why did she care so much about how Minerva was doing?

 

“So, I see the new girl is eyeing you.” Louis teased, striking a walker in the head. Minnie rolled her eyes, scoffing at him. “What? I’m seeing heart eyes. It’s super fucking cute.” He cooed, baring a stupid grin on his face. The ginger rolled her eyes, swinging her hatchet into the walkers head. Another one down, and it almost felt like two more replaced it.

 

After several minutes of fighting walkers, they could see the three hunters returning, the familiar torch light trailing after them. Minnie relaxed, seeing her twin arriving safely. 

 

“Where did all these walkers come from?” Sophie asked, Aasim skidding over besides her. Louis gestured to Clementine, which resulted in Clem elbowing him. “Great, perfect.” Sophie scowled, adjusting the grip on her rabbit.

 

“Keep moving, we’ll cover you!” Marlon yelled. The three rushed inside, hurrying inside.

 

Thankfully the rest of the walkers weren’t hard to deal with, and soon everyone was inside, safe and sound. Minnie blew a loose strand of hair from her face, a smile growing as she looked at Clementine. “You did good back there. Louis was right about you being A+ material. That was really good, like really good.” Minerva stated. 

 

_ Oh my god, why couldn’t she stop talking? Why the fuck was she still talking? She should shut up now. Oh no, is she still talking?! _

 

“Thanks, you were really good too.”

 

A vibrant shade of red covered Minerva’s face, her words stuck in her throat. Her pale eyes wide in surprise. “I-I, you’re fucking awesome.”.  _ SHIT. _

 

Two pairs of hands grabbed her arms, making her turn to see her twin by her side. “Nice to meet ya, hope you don’t mind me stealing my sister away. Kay, thanks, bye!” Sophie practically dragged Minerva away. Minnie glanced back, softly gasping as Clementine waved her goodbye, before leaving to find AJ.

 

_ Holy shit. _

 

Getting out of Clementine’s range of hearing, Sophie turned to face her twin, a grin plastered onto her face. “What’s got you so eager?” Minerva nervously asked.

 

The only response she got was a loud squeal as Sophie hugged her sister. Minnie tensed as the shorter twin gripped her in a bear hug. “I know that look, I know that look!” Sophie squealed, her smile somehow growing as she looked up, “You like Clementine. Oh my god, you really really like her Minnie.”.

 

Her whole world seemed to freeze at that notion. A crush, a liking? No, there was no way it was like that. They were just friends, she just wanted to know the new girl. There was no way she had liked Clem… not so close to the anniversary of… of Violet vanishing.

 

“I...I gotta go.” Minnie pulled herself away, walking over to the side of the school. 

 

Aasim was about to wave to her, when he noticed where she was heading. His smile instantly vanished, brows creasing together in concern. “Do you want someone to be there with you?” He questioned. She hesitated for a moment, stopping in her tracks. Rubbing a hand over her arm anxiously, she shook her head. “Well if you need anything, you know where to find me.” Giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, Aasim walked over to his desk, and took a seat.

 

Turning back towards the side, she grimaced. The sun was setting, vibrant purples and blues filling the school yard. Her boots lightly scraped along the gravel, continuing on until she found herself in front of the two crosses. A look of grief immediately crossed her features, a small sniffle leaving her.

 

She sat down in front of the graves, cross legged. Her heart ached, staring at the names that were carved into the wood planks.

_ "I'll see you later. Rooftops." _

“I should have been there, Vi… I… I should’ve been there for you damnit, maybe… maybe if I had come, you’d still be here. Fuck, maybe I’d have died.” Minerva bowed her head down, bangs covering her eyes.

 

Clementine stood a few feet away, looking down at Tennessee. “Who’s buried there?” She questioned. The young boy glanced over sheepishly, seeing his sister.

 

“Violet and Brody. Brody was Mitch’s girlfriend, kinda our second leader when Marlon needed help. And Violet, well Violet was Minnie’s girlfriend.” Tennessee explained. Amber eyes widened, immediately darting over to Minerva, who was still sitting beside the graves. Jesus, she knew exactly what it felt like to lose someone so important to you. Tenn noticed her look, and glanced over to the flowers.

 

Nervously taking the flowers from the bush, he gently tapped Clementine’s hand with them. She looked down in surprise, seeing the flowers. Gingerly she took them, slowly looking over to Minerva.

 

_ Should she really do this? Was she disturbing her peace and mourning time?  _ Taking a breath, Clementine walked over.

 

Minerva sat silently in front of the cross, when she heard the ground shifting beside her. She looked up, surprised to find Clementine beside her, holding a pair of purple flowers.

 

_ Violets… _

 

“Is it okay if I join you?” Clementine asked. The ginger blinked in surprise, thinking for a moment. Slowly she nodded, making room for her. Clementine uttered a thank you, taking a seat beside her. The hat wearing girl leaned forward, laying the flowers on the graves. They looked nice, made it feel...less forgotten.

 

Turning to the girl beside her, she asked, “What was Violet like?”.

 

A faint flush covered Minerva’s cheeks. Shit, how could you describe someone like Violet? Pushing back a piece of her hair, she began saying anything that came to her mind. Talking on and on about the girl she loved. Sometimes what she said would make Clem smile or even laugh. Others would leave her shocked and in disbelief. In a way it hurt, but overall it was just nice to talk about Violet, describe the wonderful girl she loved.

 

It made it truly feel like in some way, she was still alive.


	5. Darkest Nights

The sun had mostly set now, leaving a beautiful lighting across the school as all the students ate up their food up. A soft hum left Clementine as she gently slurped the soup, letting out a relaxed breath as she swallowed the warm liquid. “Told you Omar was a good chef.” Minerva spoke, smiling at the new girl.

 

“You’re damn right I am.” Omar said, walking past them to his seat. This resulted in the two girls bursting into laughter, giggling at the seriousness in his voice.

 

“That’s Omar for you. He will literally kill for his cooking. Wouldn’t be surprised if he killed someone and put them inside of the soup.” Minerva giggled. To her surprise Clementine had an absolute look of horror on her face. “I’m kidding.” She stated. Clem hesitantly nodded, sitting tensely. 

 

_ Oh shit, she fucked up again. _

 

The two looked away awkwardly, eating their soup. Louis took immediate notice, a smile forming on his face. “You know what time it is? Card time.” Louis smirked, holding up a deck of cards.

 

Louis, Clementine, Minerva, Sophie, and Marlon sat at the table, and the card game began. “So, what are we playing?” Clem asked as Louis passed out the cards.

 

“Basically everyone puts down a card at the same time. Whoever gets the highest card can ask the deepest probing question they want to whoever got the lowest question. So you know, try not to lose.” Sophie stated, winking. Minnie scoffed elbowing her sister. Sophie chuckled loudly, grinning from ear to ear at her sister’s annoyance.

 

The game quickly began, and the first person to win was Minerva. Minnie smirked, looking directly at Clementine. Let’s see what she could find out about the new girl. What was a good question to ask? Nothing to personal, but not something to mundane. Wait, why was everyone looking at her now? Shit, how much time had passed. Oh no, everyone was looking at her now. Why was she taking so long to answer?!

 

“MEG, has some crazy anxiety issues. So don’t mind her, seriously, don’t. It makes her like ten times more nervous.” Sophie piped up, getting a scowl from her twin.  _ Not helping. _

 

“Meg? I’m confused, I thought your name was Minerva.” Clem questioned. A look of horror dawned on Minnie’s face. Sophie snorted in laughter, laughing loudly.

 

“Oh god, are you high again?” Louis asked, resulting in a snicker from Sophie. The musician tsked, shaking his head, his dreads swaying back and forth. “Shameful girl, shameeeeeful.” The boy spoke, completely judging the ginger.

 

Minerva did her best to ignore the group, thinking up a question. After a few minutes, she finally asked. “Have...you ever had a boyfriend..? Or a girlfriend?” She said the second part just above a whisper, feeling her cheeks redden.

 

“Awww, you stole my question.” Louis pouted.

 

Clem stared at the girl for a moment, processing her words carefully. “No, I can say I’ve ever had one.” Clem stated, giving a light shrug. Her words oddly reassure her, she didn’t entirely understand why though.

 

The game continued, and things were simple and happy. Sophie jokingly asking her who she thought the hottest kid was at the school. Marlon digging in on who raised her. It was going good until Louis asked if she ever lost someone close. It killed the mood quickly, and had led to Clementine heading to bed early, AJ following along. It made Minerva sad, seeing as AJ was getting along with her brother quite well.

 

Minnie hoped Clem’s night would be better...because her night would awful.

 

Minerva tossed and turned all night. An all to familiar nightmare plagued her dreams. The screams, the pleas, the everlasting guilt.

 

_ “I can’t go hunting, Tenn’s got a fever.” Minerva stated, folding her hands together. Her pale eyes were wide with a pleading look. Violet grimaced as she looked at her, arms folded over her chest.  _

 

_ “I’m not going to cover for you, Minnie. It’s your turn to go hunting.” Violet stated. Minerva’s pout grew, and the blonde cringed. “Ugh! Alright, alright! I’ll do it, i’ll cover your shift, but you owe me.” She stated. _

 

_ “Yes! I owe you I swear! Rooftops when you come back?” Minnie grinned. Violet rolled her eyes, but a smile crept up on her face. _

 

_ “Yeah, see you there. What’s one more hunting trip after all?” _

 

Minerva shot up from the bed, loudly panting. Her body trembled, bangs hanging over her eyes. Soft snores emitted from the bed below her, and she realized Sophie was still fast asleep. Of course. She wasn’t the twin haunted by nightmares after all.

 

Taking a moment to compose herself, Minerva sat cross legged on her bed. She lifted up her hand, sighing in aggravation.

 

The ink on her hand had begun to fade out once more. It felt like no matter how often she reapplied the ink, it would just fade away in hours. God, Aasim would probably say it’s some sick symbolism. How even though she loved Violet dearly, the pure affection would fade more and more...until it was entirely gone.

 

Sighing loudly, she laid back down, holding her inked hand gently. Staring up at the ceiling of her room, Minerva felt her mind wander. All of this was still so crazy. No matter how much time passed, it never felt right. Nothing felt right with her gone. “Get a hold of yourself, Minerva…” Minnie whispered, rolling onto her side.

 

Not a smart choice. Across the bed with a caricature painting Sophie had done for her and Violet two years ago. It wasn’t as good as her newer drawings, but it still held a special place in her heart.

 

Minnie groaned, pulling the blankets over her head, clamping her eyes shut, and somehow hoping sleep would claim her. And it did.

 

_ Two agonizing hours later. _

 

Fishing was a nightmare, she could hardly keep her eyes open the entire time. Sophie kept making jokes with AJ how she’d fall into the waters and be swept away. “Minnie can’t swim, so she’ll be gone, in what? Three minutes, nah that’s two generous. One and a half.” Sophie remarked, making the boy giggle. Minnie could only groan.

 

There was no point in telling Soph to stop. It was best to just catch all the fish they could and get back to the school.

 

“AJ, why don’t you and Soph get that stream? I’ll see if Clementine can help me out over here.” The taller twin explained. AJ’s face lit up with excitement, as he ran off with the spear in hand. “You have told him about not running with sharp things... _ right _ ?” Minerva hesitantly asked Clementine. Much to her dismay, the girl remained silent. In fact, she walked away to start fishing.

 

“And I didn’t think I could become anymore concerned...:”

 

Trying to ignore the violent thoughts of that small child falling onto the spear, Minerva walked to the stream, baring her own spear. Thankfully the stream seemed pretty fully. “We should only need three or four each. We want to be fed, but we’ll need more for later.” Minerva explained, raising her arm back.

 

In a single motion, the spear swooshed forward, perfectly impaling a fish. “Wow.” Clem said, looking down. She tried copying the move, but was a few seconds too late.

 

“Try this, aim where they’re going to be in at least three seconds, that way by the time your spear is down, you caught a fish.” She informed, catching another fish with ease, “It takes a while to get used to. But I trust you got this.”. Clem gave her a smile, which she gladly returned.

 

The day didn’t go as she expected. Someone had been sabotaging their traps, and they were running out of food. They needed something.

 

And Clementine had that exact something.

 

It took some convincing, but Minerva, Louis, Sophie, and AJ followed her to the train station. It was so strange being so far out of the safe zone, but they had to do it. Clementine said there was plenty of food and supplies there. They could be set for weeks, even months! No more dangerous hunting trips that usually only got them one or two rabbits. They would be set! They’d finally be safe.

 

With all that in mind, they had expected Marlon to react well. He was slightly annoyed upon finding out they had left the safe zone, but seemed thankful for the supplies. Despite the gratitude, Clementine was able to tell that Marlon was hiding something. And this kept her on edge.

 

That’s why him asking her to go patrolling in the mourning was the perfect opportunity to get answers. They were initially supposed to bring Rosie too, but the dog had gotten sick from eating some bad raw meat. Poor thing. She was the only dog Clementine liked.

 

_ Although she only knew too, and the other one fucking bit her. _

 

The two teens wandered through the forest, scoping the area. “Do you really think that guy would have come this far? I shoved him through a window into a bunch of walkers, I highly doubt he survived, let alone had enough energy to head over here.” Clementine explained, “You said it yourself, you took down all the street signs so no one would have any idea where the school was.”.

 

Marlon looked around, noting for any sign of movement. His bow rested in his hands, arrow resting gently on the end of his bow. He was always ready to shoot. At what though is what no one knew.

 

“Why were you so concerned about Abel?” Him tensing up let her know she was right, “What do you know about him?”.

 

“Know what about me?” A nasty voice spoke, making Clementine whip around. A yelp left her as a gun struck her in the face, making her fall to the ground with a rough thud. Abel and Lilly walked up to her, the man scowling. “This was the little bitch that made me lose an arm. As much as I hate to say it, she’ll do good for our cause.”.

 

This made Lilly look up, a smug look on her face as she stared at the leader. “You are a boy of your word Marlon, now two years in a row you give me amazing soldiers.” Lilly stated, “I suggest you run along now, while we handle this.”. Marlon nodded, looking down at Clementine. The girl had an absolute look of horror, the gears turning in her head.

 

It wasn’t walkers that killed Brody and Violet… this coward gave them away!

 

Clementine attempted to get up, only to be pushed to the ground by Lilly. “Marlon! Marlon, get back here! MARLON!” Clementine screamed as he ran.


	6. Cover Art

I tried moving this to the first chapter, but I couldn't. So here's some cover art.

 


	7. Old Face

Clementine yelled as she dragged off, her clothes scraping against the dirt.  _ So things were horrible about this. First, this psycho bitch was Lilly. Secondly, she was trying to take her off to her crazy raider group. And thirdly, she wasn’t able to kick that rat bastards ass! _

 

“Keep struggling and it’ll only get worse.” Abel spoke, getting annoyed with the girl’s thrashing. Clem ignored the man, continuing to struggle against his grasp. “Why you-’.

 

Abel went to strike her, when Lilly was suddenly shoot in the shoulder. “AUGH!” The woman cried out as the bullet tore into her arm. Clem looked up startled, seeing a figure taking aim behind a tree.

 

The figure scowled at her, shooting at the two raiders again. “Come on!” The person had a female voice, tinges of red hair were spotted. Another shoot went off, letting Clementine run forward, hurrying over to the girl. She could hear Abel scream in anger, but ignored it, running as fast as she could. “Don’t stop, and stay close!” The girl in front of her cried out.

 

She had no choice but to trust the girl, it was better than the alternative. The two ran as fast as they could, but it felt like the two adults were just gaining on them.

 

Abel attempted to aim at the two girls, but was stopped by a walker limping towards him. “DAMNIT!” The man shouted, seeing numerous walkers fill the area around them. Where had they come from?! The girl in front of rose her gun, shooting two down. But with everyone she shot, it felt like two more would replace it. The redheaded girl grimaced, seeing the numerous walkers.

 

Upon stopping, Clementine gained a much better view of the girl, amber eyes looking at the pair of pale blue.

 

The girl’s fiery red hair reached her shoulders, on the right side was a small braid of hair. The bangs were curled slightly, sticking out in a large strand on the right side of her face, the same direction as where here hair had been swept. Bits and pieces of red stuck out from the side of her face, poking out in each direction.

 

Her most unique feature had to be the various scars covering her pale face, mostly on the right side. One cut along her note, one just above her left brow and one cutting threw it. Several rested just below her right cheek bone, beside one more on her lips. There was a final one, smaller than the rest, that dug into the right side of her neck.

 

Despite all these scars, her face seemed gentle. Slightly rounded where you could tell her smile was sweet and wide.

 

Her clothes were muddy and blood stained, then again, they didn’t exactly have washing machines anymore. A dark blue vest resting over a maroon sweater and a light gray t-shirt. Her dark gray jeans were stained in dirt, a small pouch strapped around her reft right which Clementine assumed was her ammo pouch. Black boots were only a few inches below her knees. Her gun was strapped to her back, looking like a hunting rifle.

 

_ Great, she escaped from Lilly and Abel, and now she was surrounded by dozens of walkers. _

 

The redhead huffed in annoyance, taking a hammer from her belt. “Looks like this could be the end. Wanna tell me your name before this goes to hell?” Clementine asked, brandishing her knife. The redheaded girl scoffed for a moment, glancing back at the girl that was now back to back with her.

 

“It’s already gone to hell and back, but the name’s Brody.”

 

This caught Clementine off guard, Brody? Wasn’t that the name of- 

 

There was no time to think properly though, as the walkers were gaining on the two. Brody struck a walker in the head with her hammer, breaking through the skull easy. An angered yell parted her lips as she kicked a walker in the knee to knocking it down.  _ Guess she wasn’t the only one that knew that trick. _

 

No matter how many they took down, more would keep coming. Clem saw one approaching her, and raised her arm to stab it. Just before she could, the ‘walker’ grabbed her wrist, preventing her from killing. “Shhh,” The ‘walker’ covered Clementine’s mouth as she went to scream, “Too loud.”.

 

A gun cocked behind him, but the ‘walker’ hardly seemed phased. Brody stared them down, holding her rifle. Pale blue eyes pierced into the figure, watching their movements. Eventually she put the gun down, watching the figure limp off. “Why didn’t you shoot?” Clem breathlessly asked, watching them go.

 

“We need him.” Brody simply said.

 

The figure threw a rock into the distance, distracting the walkers. Once they were on their way, he led them off. Clem hesitated for a moment, but followed anyway. Even if she didn’t like it, she needed to do it

 

She had to do whatever it takes to get back to the school. AJ was still there.

 

After a few moments the trio arrived to a small campsite, a fire barely lit in the center. “Nice save James, didn’t recognize ya for a sec.” Brody said, walking over to the fire and talking a seat. Clem felt her eyes widen, staring at her in shock.

 

“How do you two know each other?” Brody grimaced, looking at the other for a moment. James was silent, poking at the flames. “I know you’re from the school...or that you were.” Clementine explained.

 

The redheaded girl felt her heart break, remembering her old home. All her friends. Hell, the boy she loved!

 

Brody grimaced, “He saved my life...when I was escaping from the raiders”.

 

_ Brody panted as she limped forward, her entire world was spinning. The cold wind felt like knives digging into the fresh bloody cuts on her face. Soft whimpers left her, the poor girl struggled to walk. Her hands were nearly glued to the gaping hole in her abdomen, staining her hands and the teal-blue sweater she wore.  _

 

_ Tears ran down her face as she fell to her knees. Brody fell onto her side, curling up into a ball as she sobbed.  _

 

_ How could Violet do this to her? They hadn’t been the closest of friends, but fuck, why?! Why would she just shoot her like it was nothing?! The shotgun blast tore through her abdomen, and the bits that split up tore apart her face. _

 

_ Her vision was darkening, and she felt her world grow more and more distant. Her whimpers grew weaker, until she found herself going limp. What she didn’t notice was a masked figure in the distance. James watched the entire scene, and moved forward. “Hold on, you’ll be okay.” James softly spoke, picking up the girl off of the ground. _

 

Clementine looked at Brody, stunned. “So am I right? Did you really...did Marlon really give you and Violet to Lilly? He told everyone that walkers killed you.”.

 

Anger flooded through Brody, her fist trembling. “That coward… he gave us up because he was afraid, he was a coward.. He was our leader...our friend! Marlon was supposed to be there for us, but he wasn’t! He never came back for us, and now I’m hearing he lied that we were killed by walkers!”. The girl was seething, but Clementine could see she was hurt.

 

No, she was fucking heartbroken.

 

Clem looked at her, “Then why not tell them yourselves. Show them that you aren’t dead, and show them that their so called leader is a rat bastard.”. She stared at her for a moment, thinking long and hard.

 

“Let’s fucking do it.”.

 

The two girls headed out that morning. They said their goodbyes to James, and were soon on their way to the school. Brody oddly remembered the exact way perfectly. She was true to her word. The school was her home, she remembered almost each and every turn perfectly.

 

Over half an hour had passed, and they found themselves at the school gates. Sophie stood on the guard tower, taking a long drag of her join. She looked forward hearing someone approaching, and felt her eyes widen in absolute shock. “GUYS! Guys, get over here now!” She shouted loud enough for anyone that was asleep, surely waking everyone up now.

 

AJ practically busted through the gates, leaping into her arms. “Clementine, there you are! I was wondering where you went!” AJ exclaimed, clinging to her. The girl let out a relieved sigh, clinging to the boy.

 

“It’s okay AJ, i’m okay.” She said, holding him close.

 

The others came out as well, relieved to see Clementine. Their attention quickly shifted to the redheaded teen beside her, all of them going wide eyed. “Holy shit.” Omar, oh god, it was great to hear him. “Jesus, Brody is that you?” Aasim, glad to see her friend was well. “I don’t...what the fuck?” Sophie was gaping, it wasn’t surprisingly.

 

All the negative emotions faded from her, and Brody felt herself on the verge of tears. “Hey folks, miss me that much?” She croaked out, a small smile growing on her face. There was now silene, worrying her. Did they want nothing to do with her anymore..?

 

A figure pushed past the others, a confused look on their face. “What the fuck is going….” They trailed off as they looked forward, eyes widening in surprise. A whimper left Brody seeing who it was, tears breaking through the damn. “Oh my god, Brody!” Two arms immediately wrapped around her tightly, keeping her in a close embrace, “Jesus, where have you been..?!”.

 

Brody looked up to her boyfriend, about to answer his question, when an all too familiar voice called out, “What the fuck is going on here?”. She let go of Mitch, looked into the school, seeing Marlon coming out of the admin building. The anger returned, a look of fury taking over her features as Marlon’s warped into a look of horror. 

 

“YOU!”


	8. Reunions

Brody moved faster than anyone had expected, striking Marlon in the face. The others gasped in horror, standing tense. 

 

No one could believe it. Brody had been ‘dead’ for nearly a year, yet here she was in the flesh! Anger coursing through her veins as she stood above Marlon, towering over his fallen figure. The leader held his jaw, looking up in absolute horror.

 

“Brody, what the fuck is going on..?!” Louis was the first to snap out of his daze, and the others quickly followed.

 

Her brows knitted together in fury, jabbing a finger down to the leader. “This piece of shit gave me and Violet up to the raiders! There were never any walkers! Lilly and Abel ran into us, and Marlon froze, letting them take us! He was too much of a fucking coward to tell everyone though!” Brody exclaimed, “He damn near did the same thing to Clem if I hadn’t found them!”.

 

A collective gasp of horror left the group, all of them turning to Marlon. “Marlon, is that true?!” Mitch shouted, stepping forward. Marlon tensed, climbing up to his feet.

 

“Guys, come on you can’t believe this..!” Marlon exclaimed, backing up in fear. No one trusted him though. Brody being alive was enough proof to them that their leader was liar. Some were heartbroken by the reveal, while others were furious. Mitch, Omar, Sophie, Aasim, Brody, and Clementine all began to circle around the leader, backing him up towards the admin building.

 

Clementine put her hands on her hips, glaring the boy down. “What do we do with him..?” Minerva hesitantly asked, keeping her brother close.

 

“That should be for Brody and Clementine to decide.” Aasim stated, looking back at the two girls. Marlon grimaced, watching as the two girls stepped towards him. “Guys, come on, you can’t let them do this. We’re family for gods sakes..!” Marlon pleaded, finding himself pinned against the flagpole.

 

“We were family...then you gave us up like we were nothing.” Brody took her rifle from her back, striking Marlon in the face, “You’re getting locked up.”.

 

Louis grimaced as he looked down at his best friend, now unconscious on the ground. “Was that really necessary..?” He asked.

 

A scoff left Brody, putting her weapon back, “Please, that was more than generous after the shit he pulled.”. She watched Louis and Omar pick up Marlon, carrying him to dorms. As she watched, her breathing suddenly became quicker and weaker, her pale eyes widening. Her hands shook, and she seemed to be struggling to breath.

 

Clem was about to question what was going on, when Mitch stepped forward quickly. His arms wrapped around Brody, and he used his hand to rest her head on his shoulder. “Hey, hey Brody, remember what we always did okay?” He spoke gently, his fingers going through her hair as the other rested on her back. She remembered instantly. 

 

_ Focus on your breathing, that’s all you got to do. As long as you’re in my arms, you’re safe, I promise. _

 

Brody began to relax immediately, her breathing slowing down and becoming more paced. Soon enough she was breathing normally again, letting Mitch let go of her. “You’re home now Brody...that’s all that matters.” Mitch softly. Clem looked around, and noticed the reactions of some of the others. She had never seen him act like that, and she recognized that expression. It was the same one she wore when she reunited with AJ.

 

Once the two had parted, it was time for everyone else to see her. Ruby hugged her, blaming her tears on allergies. Aasim cracked a small smile, hugging her. Sophie immediately clung to her, asking questions a mile an hour. Willy and Tenn clung to her legs, the former stating over and over again how much he missed her.

 

The one that hurt most was Minerva though. The tall ginger walked over, looking Brody in the eyes. “Is...is she still alive?” Minerva asked, her voice wavering. Brody immediately grimaced, nudging Willy off of her gently. 

 

_ Shit, what was she supposed to say? _

 

“I...I don’t know Minerva. The two of us got seperated a few months ago, and I ain’t seen her since.” It wasn’t too far from the truth, but it felt horrible to lie to her. Brody was able to tell the others had questions, but she didn’t think she had the heart to tell more truthes...or more lies. “I need some space.”.

 

They watched her walk off, eventually standing near the gates, and looking out. “This...changes everything.” Aasim commented, folding his arms over his chest.

 

“I think we should talk when she’s ready. Brody clearly has been through a lot, she needs some time to adjust.” Clementine explained, looking back at the girl, “It can’t be easy adjusting after whatever happened.”.

 

Clementine’s words reminded Mitch of something, making him look up. Most of the others went back inside the school, or off to find a distraction. There was a tug on his hand, making Mitch look down, “You coming?”. Willy was there, holding his arm and looking over to their usual spot on the couches. Mitch looked over as well, before shaking his head.

 

“Nah, I gotta go do something buddy.”.

 

He thankfully understood, heading off to go bug the younger kids or something. With Willy gone, Mitch approached Brody. “Hey, B, there’s something-” He put a hand on his shoulder, yelping as he was elbowed quickly in the stomach. Oh thank god it wasn’t as bad as being hit down there.

 

“Oh my god, Mitch! I am so sorry, I didn’t know it was you..!” Brody frantically said, facing him. Mitch grunted, taking a moment to get his breathing back. God, she was jumpy before but never this badly.

 

Mitch took a deep breath, standing up straight. Facing her this way helped him notice all the visible changes to Brody...and Jesus, it broke his fucking heart. The scars all over her face. God, what had those fuckers done to her.

 

He bit back the pain, folding his arms over his chest. 

 

_ He shouldn’t bring it up. _

 

“I wanna show you something Brody.” Mitch took her hand. A surprised blush coated Brody’s cheeks, but she didn’t pull away. She just let him take lead, trusting him. The two slipped out through the front gates with ease, seeing no reason to tell the others.

 

They walked for half an hour, before finding themselves near the old shack. Brody’s eyes lit up immediately, knowing where they were going. Mitch smiled, walking ahead of her, going to the truck. He popped open the hood of the truck, looking inside. “I kept working on it after the accident. It just...felt like something I needed to do. I’m nearly done, just need some gas, and a fresh battery. Once we get those, this baby will done.”.

 

A proud smile grew on his face, and he closed the hood. When he turned around though, he saw Brody crying, shocking him. “Oh shit, what’s wrong. Are you-” He shut up as he hugged him tightly, softly crying into his denim jacket. Mitch was frozen in place, not knowing what to say. He was just stuck there, hearing her crying.

 

Slowly an idea came to him, smiling a bit. “Wanna help me work on it? By the looks of your badassery, Marlon won’t be up for hours.” Mitch stated, pulling out of the hug and smiling at her. A sniffle left Brody, and she lifted her head, weakly smiling.

 

“Yeah...yeah I’d love that.”


	9. Car Stuff

The students eventually met up in the admin building. No one knew how much time they had until...until Lilly and Abel returned.

 

Marlon grunted, as his wrist were tied behind him. “Is this fucking necessary?” He hissed out. No one seemed to care, minus Louis of course. The former leader was only shown looks of disgust and disappointment.

 

Clementine looked at the students, folding her arms over her chest. “We need to strengthen the schools defenses. We have to work fast, Lilly and Abel can be here any day, so we have to work fast.” She explained, looking at everyone, “Does anyone have any good ideas on how to defend the school?”.

 

Mitch and Brody looked at each other, a knowing look on them. “What are you two love birds thinking about?” Omar questioned.

 

Brody stepped forward, taking the honors of explaining. “Before I ‘vanished’” She said the word with venom, directing it to Marlon, “Mitch and I were workin’ on that old truck by the fish shack. Mitch told me he’s nearly done. All we need is a workin’ battery and some gas. If we get the car workin’, we can drive around the area and collect tons of supplies.”.

 

“Are you insane?! Going out that far?!”

 

“Marlon, do everyone a favor and shut the hell up.” Minerva scowled.

 

This caught Clementine’s attention, making the girl look over. A plan began to form in her head. The car had been totalled, but there was bound to be more gas in it, and if they were lucky the battery still worked!

 

“Our car still has gas in it, and the battery could still work!”.

 

Brody’s eyes lit up immediately at Clem’s words, a smile growing on her face. “That’s great! Where is it? We can grab what need easy.” Brody explained, smiling. That’s where Clem’s own smile frowned, the girl grimacing. 

 

“It’s, kinda at the train station.”.

 

After a moment of disagreement, along with Mitch threatening to knock Marlon out again, they eventually had a plan. 

 

They had left only an hour later. Clementine, AJ, Brody, Aasim, and Mitch would head back to the train station. “Think this’ll actually work?” Aasim asked, looking down at the jerry can in his grasp. Clem nodded, thinking back. They still had a couple miles worth of gas, they would be fine for hauling supplies around the school area.

 

Aasim nodded, trusting her response. The girl saved his life only a few days ago, he saw no reason not to trust her.

 

A few moments passed, and soon the group found themselves at the train station. “Jesus Clem, you’re that bad of a driver?” Mitch scoffed, approaching to the turned over car. The amber eye girl glared at the brunette teen, scoffing as AJ burst into a little fit of giggles.

 

“Be nice Mitch, she’s lettin’ us take what we need.” Brody stated, opening up the gas cap on the side of the car. She tilted her head, trying to get a good look in.

 

Everyone else looked around the gas station, doing their own things. Brody and Mitch observed the car, seeing if there was any chance they could salvage something good from the wreckage. Aasim was looking around the area, seeing if there was anything around. AJ was looking around the area, seeing whatever he could find. Clementine glanced around, wondering who she should talk with first.

 

Thinking for a few minutes, she eventually headed over to Aasim, noticing him staring off into space. This wasn’t like him. It honestly concerned her a bit. 

 

“Hey Aasim.” The boy turned back in surprise, startled by her voice. “Woah, relax. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She walked up to stand beside him, seeing nothing particularly interesting, “What had you so spaced out?”.

 

Aasim went silent at this, staring at the ground. Several moments passed, before he spoke. “That doll over there...on the ground, my sisters had one just like it. I remember it so well. The smile on her little face when I got it for her for Christmas… the child innocence.” Aasim’s voice was just above a whisper. This information shocked Clementine.

 

“Sisters?”

 

“I had two, I was the oldest sibling of three. Khan and Zarnie. Khan, she was only four when this started, and Zarnie...she was just a few months.” The pain in his voice was obvious. They stood in silence, before he suddenly spoke, “Sometimes I just imagine the two of them are surviving out there. With our neighbors, or anyone decided to take care of them… I know it’s stupid, but it’s so much better than imagining the alternative. Just...seeing Brody alive made me wonder who else could be around”.

 

Clementine was taken aback by the sudden display of emotion, frowning lightly. “It’s not stupid. If hoping they are out there somewhere, then work your ass off to stop the raiders. Don’t let them stop you from seeing your sisters again.”.

 

A weak smile tugged at his lips as he looked at Clem. “Thanks for listening Clementine, and don’t worry. We’ll kick those raider’s asses.”.

 

It was Clem’s turn to smile, nodding, “We sure will.”.

 

She began walking around again, seeing what everyone else was up to. Looking around a bit, she headed over to Brody and Mitch. “Hey Clem.” Brody said, not moving from her spot behind the car. An aggravated sigh left her, as she was unable to get the hood open, and by the looks of it, neither could Mitch.

 

“Well, I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ll let you know if I can find anything to help you open it.” Clem said, before leaving the two.

 

“Hey Clem, look what I found!” AJ suddenly called out, catching her attention. The little goofball was only a few feet away, looking at something on the ground. An annoyed sigh left her, this damn child was going to kill her.

“Stay there AJ! I’m coming!” Clem announced, heading over. AJ squatted on the ground, staring at something on the ground. “Will this work?” He asked, raising a brow. Clem came over, her eyes widening upon seeing the crowbar. It was the same exact one she had with her when they first came to the train station. She saw no reason in asking how it got here, and instead picked it up. “Nice job goofball.” Clem pocketed the crowbar, and headed over to Brody and Mitch.

 

The two immediately stepped back as she came over. Clem drove the crowbar through the small wedge, grunting as she struggling to get a good grip on it. “Come on!” Clem grunted, trying to push it open.

 

“Ugh, step aside.” Mitch pushed aside. Clem glared, while Brody gave a small shrug beside her. It was something she grew used to. Mitch took a good grip on the crowbar, starting to push. Within seconds the hood of the car popped open.

 

Perfect! One step close. Mitch knelt down, getting to work on removing the battery. Aasim picked up the jerry can, looking around. “Alright, let’s get out of here.” He stated.

 

“Not so fast, there’s something I wanna show yal.” Brody smirked as Mitch got the battery, and gestured them to follow her. Aasim looked at Mitch, who merely shrugged as his girlfriend was already walking off. There was no point in stopping, so Clementine went ahead to follow her.

 

It only took a few minutes before Brody stopped, kicking aside some leaves. “What’re you doing?” AJ questioned beside Clementine. The redheaded girl smirked, removing the leaves, and revealed a blue duffle bag. She picked it up, and opened it up, making the group gasp.

 

Within the bag with several hand guns, a few magazines, and food. “I thought it’d be a nice gift for yal welcomin’ me back.”


	10. Virginia Road

“So wait, we’re heading out of the safezone and grabbing anything we can find to defend the school? Are we sure this car will even work?!” Louis was yammering on and on about how this was a bad plan, but Clem did her best to ignore him, though it wasn’t easy. Maybe it was a bad idea to let Louis guard Marlon. The rat bastard was probably trying to turn sweet Louis against them.

 

Eventually, after roughly four minutes of Louis’ banter, Clem sighed, turning to him. “Louis, if you’re so worried, why not come with us?”.

 

This caught him off guard for a moment, staring at her surprised. “I...you want me to come? As in, leave past the safe zone purposely, go out god knows where on a random truck that probably doesn’t even work-”

 

The sound an engine caught their attention, making the two look over in surprise. A familiar truck pulled up to the front gates of the school. In the front row was Brody and Mitch. Brody leaned out from the driver seat, waving with this huge grin on her face. Both were covered in car grease, their skin covered in black. “Hey folks!” Brody grinned.

 

“What’re you guys doing letting that thing run?! Turn it off or we’ll have dead all over us!” Aasim called out. The couple chuckled, and Brody turned off the car. Once the engine was off, the two climbed out of the car, heading inside.

 

Willy was bouncing up and down eagerly, smiling widely. “We got a car, we got a car!” Willy gave a toothy grin. Mitch chuckled, wiping his hands off on his jacket. Aasim crinkled up his nose, groaning. 

 

“Jesus dude, you reak.”

 

Clementine ignored their banter, looking at her map. It was a different map, being one that Brody had provided, which had more rang of the city. There were plenty of areas they could check for supplies. After some looking, she found a good looking location.

 

“Here, we’ll travel to the gas station. It’s less than an hour away if we drive, I passed by it on my way here. Near it was a small maintenance shed, and it should have good gear.” Clementine explained, pointing at the map, “The truck had four seats plus the trunk bed, but we’ll need that for supplies, so only four of us can go. Who’s coming?”.

 

Louis hesitantly agreed, while Brody eagerly rose her hand. Ruby was about to volunteer, when Mitch stopped her. “No, Marlon should go. Make that useless fuck worth something for once.” Mitch scowled. Louis didn’t seem thrilled by Mitch’s remarks, but couldn’t say anything.

 

After a small bit of arguing, they eventually got everyone on the truck. Though it seemed like Mitch was finding every excuse to rough Marlon up a bit. Concern filled Louis as his best friend was tossed in the back with him. He nearly climbed in with him, when he saw a glare come from Clem. It hadn’t been directed at him, but it still scared him. He mouthed an apology to Marlon, before climbing into the front seat with Brody.

 

Brody was about to drive, when Minerva rushed over. “Wait, wait!” The ginger panted, before rounding around the side to Clementine. The hat wearing girl was surprised, seeing her run around.

 

“Minerva?”

 

She panted, looking Clementine in the eyes. Pale eyes staring into her amber ones. “Clem, just...I wanted to say be careful. Okay? I wanna see you come home.” Minerva anxiously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Clem felt her cheeks redden, before nodding. The ginger sighed out in relief, “G-Good. See you when you get back?”. Clementine once again nodded, smiling as Brody drove off.

 

Minerva waved her off as they drove off, softly sighing. “You are hopelessly in love.” Omar whispered as he walked by, turning Minerva’s face bright red. She quickly turned around, starting to search around the school for ways to help there.

 

Brody drove down the road, looking up to the beautiful blue skies. Louis sat beside her, staring at the map, giving her directions on which way to go every few minutes. He even started singing some old songs to fix the quiet ride. Marlon and Clementine sat silently in the back, where the girl would glare at him every few minutes, watching him closely. Marlon grimaced, looking outside the window. God, he really hoped they’d be there soon. The walkers were probably going to be more merciful than these two girls.

 

After a nightmarish hour of driving, they pulled up into the gas station. “Here we are.” Brody exited the truck, looking around. It seemed empty enough, for now at least.

 

Clementine and Louis checked out the gas station, which left Marlon and Brody to search the maintenance shed. Shit, he was going to die wasn’t he?

 

“Keep moving.” Brody nudged him forward with her gun, scowling at the bastard. Marlon swore under his breath, taking a step forward. It was nothing to big, only slightly smaller than the basement. Brody picked up a flashlight, relieved that it was still working. “There we go.” She hummed a bit, starting to look around. Marlon glared, but choose not to say anything.

 

_ Don’t tempt the girl with the gun. _

 

The two searched for anything useful. Sadly there wasn’t much. Just a tool box, some wood, and a box of nails.

 

“Guess that’s everything we need. Let’s-” He didn’t get a chance to finish his words, and heard the door behind them close shut, making his pale eyes widen. Brody clicked the lock, tugging the door handle to make sure it was locked. After she had done that, she turned to Marlon.

 

“I think now’s the perfect time you and I had a chat. Don’t ya think, Marlon?” This struck fear through him.  _ Jesus, was she going to kill him? _

 

Clementine searched the gas station for anything useful. She glanced back, noticing Louis somber mood. A soft sigh left Clementine, making her turn fully towards him. “Are you okay?” Clementine asked, concern laced in her voice. He tensed up at this, catching her off guard. “Louis-”

 

A yell tore through him, the girl tensing as he swung Chairles into one of the old stands, making it fell down with a loud clatter. “Louis, what the hell..?” Clem whisper yelled, not wanting to attract any more attention than what was already drawn onto them.

 

Louis ignored her, yelling as he hit another stand, making it crash onto the ground. “Louis! Are you trying to bring a whole herd onto us!?” Clementine snapped at him, grabbing his arm. Louis flung chairles into more shelves, and they collapsed, creating even louder noises. He struggled more, screaming loudly to. He had really good vocals unfortunately for them. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”.

 

“HE LIED TO ME! He fucking lied to me!” Louis exclaimed, catching her off guard. Tears streamed down his cheeks, his eyes were red, and he was heavily panting from the emotional outburst. 

 

“Thirteen years, thirteen FUCKING YEARS!” Louis swung the chair leg violently into another stand, “We...we fucking grew up together, we were fucking brothers…! He and I were there for each other when my brother died… we were there when Ms. Martin died, when all the adults died… we were always there for each other...how...h-how could he just…” Chairles slipped out of his grasp, and Louis fell to his knees, crying.

 

Clementine was stunned, not knowing how to comfort him. And unfortunately, there was no time. All the noise had attracted walkers. “Shit, come on Louis!” Surprisingly when she tugged his arm, he got up with ease. The girl shoved his weapon into his grasp, and hurryingly grabbed whatever she could from the store.

 

When the two rushed out of the gas station, hopping into the truck. Marlon and Brody stumbled out of the shack, looking startled. “Where’d all these walkers come from?!” Brody exclaimed.

 

“No time, come on!” Clem shouted, diving into the front seat. Louis hopped into the passenger seat, looking back as Marlon and Brody flung themselves into the back of the truck. “Go!” Louis exclaimed. The hat wearing girl wasted no time, flooring the gas pedal, and they sped off back to the school.

 

The sun had just begun to set when they returned. Sophie stood on top of the guard tower, letting out a relieved sigh as they returned. “We’re glad you guys are back. People were getting nervous.” Sophie explained, climbing down to let them in.

 

“What’d yal do while we were gone?” Brody asked.

 

Sophie grimaced, looking off into the school, “Minnie, Ruby, and Mitch went to grab some supplies from the greenhouse. Barbwire for the walls, and other shit to make bombs or something. They uh...they put Ms. Martin to rest...turns out she..left herself there, to protect us.” Sophie explained. Louis grimaced, shaking his head and heading inside. Sophie watched him go, concerned for the boy.

 

Clementine turned to face Marlon, folding her arms over her chest. “You need to talk to him.” Clem stated. Marlon stood there stunned for a moment, not expecting this. “Well, move!” Clementine demanded, pointing towards the admin building.

 

The blonde flinched, before quickly walking to the admin building. Rosie was already waiting for him, the good girl eagerly following him inside the admin building.

 

“What was that all about?” Sophie questioned. Clem grimaced, putting her arms down. “Louis...has been holding back to much for his own good. The two of them need to talk this out...and we...need to get ready.”


	11. Two Weeks

The group had gotten to quick work on the school, defending it however they could. They used up the truck the best they could, getting plenty of helpful supplies. It was a nice truck while it lasted. With no more outside trips, the group had to use their supplies wisely.

 

Almost all of the desk, tables, and any other miscellaneous furniture they had had been moved to the front gates. It made a pretty good barricade, and would need a lot of force to be broken open.

 

Brody was using the guns she had found, teaching some of the kids how to shoot. Christ, when Willy had the gun at some point, they had never felt such fear. Thankfully Mitch took it from him quickly. She was currently teaching Omar and Tennessee how to aim. Minerva would look over every few moments, being a very protective sister.

 

Marlon was doing some practice shots with his bow. He had finally been given it back by Aasim, and was allowed to use it. Although, his focus was trained on Louis and Brody. A frown grew on his face, looking at them.

 

He was protecting them…. Saving them from all being stolen… so why… why did he hate the looks they gave him so much.

 

_ “How could you lie to me for an entire year?!”  _ Louis’ words destroyed him. Hearing how badly he had hurt his best friend...his brother...it tore him apart. But Brody’s words..god, she made sure that he would never, ever, forget them.

 

_ “Marlon, you abandoned us! Do you wanna know what really happened to Violet..?! Violet gave up only three days later…! She...she just gave up. Violet...Violet gave into everything they asked of her, and that was that… there was nothing I could do for her.”. _

 

It was so hard to believe, that Violet had just given up. One of the best fighters in their school...had just given up. It was just unbelievable. Sadly for Brody...it was a horrible truth to her. The redhead looked over to Minerva, grimacing. She hated to lie to her...lying to her about something so awful...

 

_ Brody yelped as she was tossed into the cell, landing hardly onto the cold metal floors of the boat. Violet landed next to her, a grunt leaving her. The redhead stood up, her eyes widening as the door slammed shut behind them. Shivers ran through her body as she felt her breathing pick up, her eyes wide in fear. _

 

_ Lilly approached the door, smiling at the two girls. “Don’t worry, this is just temporary. Once we return to the Delta, you’ll be able to sleep in comfy beds, and eat all the food you want. Your new home will be great.” Lilly’s words sounded like a dream, but they could see through the lie easily. Give them whatever you want, anything you dream for. _

 

_ “All you have to do is fight to protect your new home.” _

 

_ The boat began moving long after Lilly had left, leaving the two girls in the cold cell. Brody moved around anxiously, focusing on whatever she could to keep herself from having a panic attack. There had to be something in here to help them out of this hellhole. “We gotta look for a way out, that way we can get out or find some way to help the others save us.” Brody managed to save, struggling slightly. _

 

_ While Brody was pacing, Violet had seated herself by the wall. Her mind wandered as she stared at the metal door _

 

_ The others? Help them out? _

 

_ She glanced at the wall beside her. Taking a soft breath, Violet lifted her hand up, scratching her nail into the wall. The noise caught Brody’s attention, making her look over. _

 

_ Violet had begun to scratch at the wall, the old wood scraping easily. After several seconds, she got a single line down. A single scratch on the wall. This concerned Brody, making her walk over. “Come on Vi, we gotta look for a way out.” Brody said, “We gotta help them too.”. Several moments of silence passed, before Violet slowly nodded, looking. _

 

_ Three long days had passed, and they found nothing to help them out. However, it only got worse.  _

 

_ “Vi, come on.” Brody attempted to get her out of the corner. Gray-green eyes glared at her, catching her off guard. Pure venom behind them. _

 

_ “What’s the fucking point, Brody? We’ve been abandoned by those assholes that called us their ‘friends’. And don’t fucking tell me otherwise! It’s been three days, and we’re almost to the Delta. They left us, and they aren’t going to find us. So there is no fucking point in fighting. There’s nowhere to go, we’re on a boat going to god knows where! It’s over damnit! Over!” _

 

Brody shook her head, grimacing. The memories had haunted her for years. The guilt eating away at her. She could have done something, god anything! But she didn’t...she failed Violet.

 

“WELL IT MUST BE FUCKING NICE, MITCH!” Yelling caught everyone’s attention, making everyone look.

 

Minerva and Mitch stood by the picnic tables, having a pretty heated argument. “Fuck you, Mitch! You at least have Brody! I have nothing, fucking nothing!” Before Mitch could speak, she shoved past him, running inside the school building. Rosie tilted her head in concern, softly whining as she trotted inside.

 

“Minerva!” Clementine shouted. Sophie was immediately concerned, chasing after her twin. Clem sighed heavily, looking over to Mitch. “What the hell happened?” Clem asked, concerned for the two. He grimaced, looking over to the gates.

 

“I was talking about Brody while she was helping me with bombs, then she fucking snapped.” Mitch huffed out.

 

Clem frowned, looking to the door, “We’ll give them a minutes to chat. We need to go back to work on our defenses.” Clementine explained. The other two nodded, leaving so they could work.

 

Alright, time to make sure everyone was doing alright.

 

Omar stood by the gates with Aasim and Willy, placing whatever furniture they could spare against the gates. It had to give them enough time to fire onto the raiders, rain hell on them. “Need any-” “We have it handled.” Omar quickly replied, pushing a desk against the gates. Clem rose a brow, but decided not to say anything. She looked at the other two, and Aaim merely shrugged. “Alright then…” Clem looked at them again, before walking off.

 

AJ and Tenn were on guard duty, looking around the forest for anything. “Any sign of the raiders yet?” Clem asked, raising a brow. “Nope, all good.” AJ smiled. Clem smiled, waving the two off as she headed back to the center of the school.

 

Brody was teaching some of the kids how to shoot, directing their aim to the dummies. Clem decided it would be best not to bother her.

 

Everything seemed to be good, and they were almost done preparing. “Gather round folks! It’s time to play some card games!” Louis announced, holding up a deck of cards, standing beside the couches with Marlon. Clem smiled a bit, she might as well, they could all use a moral boost.

 

Those playing were Clementine, AJ, Tennessee, Sophie, Minerva, Marlon, Louis, and  Aasim. A nice big group for truth or dare.

 

The game was full of dumb dares and probing truths. Clementine daring Aasim to go kiss Ruby, which backfired beautifully. Minerva daring Sophie to smoke an entire joint in under a minute. It didn’t surprise anyone that she could. Sophie even able to make some hilarious dares while high. It was the perfect moral boost, making all the kids laugh in ways they hadn't in years. The game eventually ended though, and everyone went their own separate ways.

 

Minerva and Louis got up, both smiling at the girl.

 

“Meet me on the rooftops, if you wanna talk or anything like that.”

 

“If you need me, I’ll be on piano duty.”

 

Clementine smiled to herself, looking over to Tennessee. “What’s the fastest way to the roof?”


	12. Bloopers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dumb set of bloopers, I needed a break from my stories and wanted to do something dumb and comedic

“I can’t go hunthing.” Minerva paused, “Hunthing. Hunthing. HUNTING! Jesus, fuck that was hard!” Minerva exclaimed, while Violet laughed in the background at her girlfriend’s struggle of words. “Give me a second, I know I got this!” Minerva stated, flustered.

* * *

“Wallowing in despair is Omar’s thing.” Sophie said. The camera tried zooming in on her, but it failed, focusing on Omar in the distance. The twins rose a brow in confusion, not understanding. Omar glanced around, whistling as he chopped up some meats, scraping it into the pot. “Wait, where’s Rosie?” Sophie gaped.

* * *

_ Minerva Elizabeth Greenclover as Minerva _

 

Minerva sat in a set of chairs, looking at the interviewer, dressed in nice looking clothes. “So, what’s it like being on the show?” The interviewer asked. Minerva let out a thoughtful breath thinking deeply.

“It’s honestly a lot, between the surprising script and new use of familiar characters we use, it’s a doozy. I was actually thrilled about it! I’m literally a villain in the other one, so it’s a nice change of pace. Plus, it’s nice to actually do roles with Clem that doesn’t involve the two of us fighting.” She smiled.

“What’s it like working with your co-stars. Some could argue you’re the biggest part of the story considering the roles switching.”

This caught Minerva off guard, not expecting this, “I wouldn’t say that.”.

* * *

“Talk tah me sis.” Sophie spoke.  
  
“Why do you sound Irish?” Minerva giggled

* * *

 

Marlon and Louis rushed in, both looking absolutely- Marlon tripped over his own foot, landing hard onto the ground with Clementine. “OW FUCK!” Clem screamed out.

“Damn, thanks gotta hurt.” Louis tsked, holding AJ still

* * *

_ Mitchell Hawkins _

 

“So, you have a pretty big role here, mind going a bit in depth.” The interviewer questioned, making Mitch snicker, his English accent prominent.

“Sorry, ain’t used to these thingies on me own. Usually ave Brody with me. Anyway, it’s definitely something I don’t do offen. Going out into states to do these kinda things.”

“Did you mean often?”

“That’s what I said, offen!”

“She’s got a point dude.” Louis said, looking at his best friend, when a strange noise left his throat, “My throat made a funny noise.” He croaked out, flustered as Marlon face palmed.

* * *

“But your armed.” Louis said, looking at Clem. The girl put her hands on her hips, watching him carefully. Minerva nervously giggled, watching along with AJ. Louis turned his body, putting his hands on the pianos. Gently clearing his throat, Louis got into a peaceful pose, ready to play.

His fingers gracefully moved along the piano, and Minerva and Clem both had a look of absolute horror when they realized what he played. AJ giggled happily, gasping as three figures bursted into the room.

Aasim, Marlon, and Mitch rushed into the room quickly, heading over to the piano, grinning like dumbasses. Aasim stood at the end, holding a saxophone.

“HEY!” He flinched as the three boys cheered, Louis emphasizing some of his piano notes.

* * *

“It’s already gone to Hell and-that was fucking awful.” Brody scowled, trembling slightly.

* * *

James shuffled over to them, ready to grab Clem when he tripped over his own foot. “Shit!” The boy whined out, falling face first. The cameraman looked at him surprised, watching as James just laid on the ground with a groan of pain. “Shit, is he dead?” Sophie asked from the side. “I CALL HIS INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT!” Louis screamed out from the background, the camera panning over to him and an embarrassed Alex who was shaking his head.

* * *

 

_ Alexander Walters _

 

“I get taken out of the script to be a dead mention, and I still have to do a fucking review?” Alex scowled, folding his arms over his chest.

This confused the interviewer, “What do you mean, Mr. Walters?”

“What do I mean? WHAT DO I FUCKING MEAN?! In everything I’m in I end up dead or mentioned I died! Ericson’s Boarding School for Troubled Youth/Returning to Ericson’s, Dire Grove, I JUST DIED IN WEST CARES FOR NONE LIKE WHAT THE HELL?! AND DON”T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON OFFBORN-”

* * *

“You’re damn right I am.” Omar paused for a moment. “Yer damn right I am.” Omar repeated the sentence in a Southern accent, throwing down an imaginary hat onto the ground as he did a victory noise. “Darn tootin!” Ruby yelled out in the background, cheering.

* * *

Sophie giggled as she waved the camera to follow her, leading them to Aasim and Mitch having an argument.

“Cock.” Mitch’s thick British accent made the word 10 times funnier.

“I think you mean chicken.” Aasim said, folding his arms over his chest as he gave Mitch a judging look.

“Say cock!” “Rooster!” “COCK!” “CHICKEN!” “IT’S A FUCKIN PENIS, MATE! INNIT YOU UNDERSTAND SHET!!!” Mitch was aggressively yelling, and no one had any idea what the hell he was saying with his accent. No one could understand Mitch like this. It was best to just let it happen.

* * *

“Awww, you store-” Louis paused, “You stola mah questionu!” Louis squealed in a bad Japanese accent.

* * *

“BRODY!” Louis screeched, before pausing...for a whole minute, “What’s my line…?”. Brody glared, rubbing her ears. “Why’d you yell so loud, asshole?” She scowled as Louis nervously laughed.

* * *

“Oh my god, Brody!” Mitch ran over to her, wrapping his arms around her. She looked up tearfully, smiling at her boyfriend. “Mitch.” She whispered, on the verge of tears.

“Brody, you-” Mitch put a hand on her cheek, pausing as he felt something wet on her hand. He moved his hand, staring blankly at the streaks of dark pink on his hand. Guess the make up didn’t fully dry yet.

Mitch turned around, glaring at the makeup artist. “What the ell kinda cheap shet are you using ere?” He glared.

Brody let out a soft sigh, “Marry me you tall Englishman.”

* * *

“Course I gotta look super scarred up.” Brody frowned at the mirror, having her hair done for the next scene.

* * *

“Don’t worry worry shug.” Ruby said, “You still got all the blo-blooty?”. Ruby paused a moment, before holding up her hand, “You still blootiful shug!”.

* * *

“Nah, I gotta do something daddy-UGH! “ Mitch violently shivered realizing what he accidentally said, “Really?!”. He covered his red face, swearing loudly in his accent, which sounded like an English mess.

* * *

“Hey folks, I heard a rumor-” Clementine began.

“WRONG AU CLEMENTINE!” Marlon shouted loudly.

* * *

_ Omar Truth _

 

“No I don’t hate Louis, that’s absurd! I hate everyone in this cast this exact same.” Omar spoke, a glint in his eyes.

* * *

“THIS IS BULLSHIT! Where are my lines! WHY DO I ALWAYS GET SIDE LINED?!” The camera panned to the other cast members hiding in a corner, quivering in fear. “WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?! I ONLY WANT TO REVIEW THE SCRIPT WITH HER!” Omar screamed in rage, gripping the script in his trembling hands, only 4 lines highlighted.

“I only wanna talk you  _ fucking whore _ .”

* * *

Marlon cried weakly as he looked at the grave, rubbing his eyes. “I can’t believe they’re gone.” He sniffed.

Louis suddenly busted out of the grave, holding Marlon’s mullet, “YOU WEAVE BEEN SNATCHED BITCH.”


	13. Bell Tower

“I still can’t believe she wants to meet here.” Clem grunted as she began to climb up. She did this every day? Goddamn! “Better make this worth it, Minnie.” Clem huffed, making it up the roof finally.

 

A sigh of relief left her as she got up to the roof. “Holy shit.” She breathed out, looking up at the sky.

 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Clementine turned, seeing Minerva sitting on the roof, staring at the starry sky. Her amber eyes fell onto the ginger girl, resulting in Minerva looking over, a smile forming on her face. “Come on, take a seat.” She smiled, patting the ground beside her. Clem rose a brow, at the spot. This resulted in Minerva giggling, “Don’t worry. We won’t fall to our deaths.”.

 

After a few moments, she sat beside her. Minerva looked up at sky, with a smile, “Know anything about constellation?” She asked.

 

Clem looked at the sky, pausing for a moment before she spoke, “I only learned a little in school, I don’t remember much though.”.

 

This made Minerva smirk, and Clementine knew by that look alone, she was going to be taught a lesson. Moving a bit closer to the edge, Minerva pointed upwards, almost tracing a group of stars. “See those? That one over there is an Ursa Minor.” Minerva finished tracing the stars, a smile on her face. Clementine looked at her, blinking in surprise.

 

_ Minnie’s eyes looked gorgeous in this lighting. _

 

She hadn’t realized she was staring until Minerva called her out, “Is astronomy that interesting to you?”. Clem felt her cheeks redden, and it turns out she wasn’t the only one. Minerva’s pale cheeks were a shade of rosy red.

 

_ Holy shit.  _ Clementine felt her heartbeat pick up, nervously coughing. “Know any others?’ She asked. Minnie looked over, pushing her hair back, humming a bit as she looked around in the sky.

 

“There, Draco. It’s the super long one with a snake, can you see it?” Minnie questioned, looking at Clementine. The girl hummed for a moment, looking around.

 

It took a few minutes, before she nodded, smiling, “I see it. It’s pretty long!”. Both girls chuckled for a moment, before growing silent… 

 

“You know… people say stars predict our futures, and who we’re reminded of.” Minerva softly commented, looking at the beautiful stars scattered across the sky. Clementine pursed her lips, looking up. Maybe there was something in the stars after all. The hat wearing girl stared up for a moment, and then finally turned to face the girl beside her, a smile forming on her face. Minerva stared up, speaking softly, “I see someone… strong, and compassionate. But they’re afraid to get too close to someone...because they’ve already lost everyone close to them, and can’t bare losing someone again.” The way her voice wavered, Clementine knew who it was.

 

“I think it’s you. You’re crazy strong, I mean how often do you see a badass swinging around two axes at a bunch of walkers? The compassionate part’s easy, you’re always so nice to the others. You could have the worst day of your life and you’d still want to help the others. And with the fear of losing someone…” Clem didn’t say anything.

 

It was so easy to see how Violet’s death had torn Minerva apart, hell, to think how bad she once was broke her heart.

 

Without thinking, Clem put her hand on Minerva’s, making the ginger twin look at her surprised. “Minerva, I want us to be more than friends. I like you, a lot. I know it might be scary, but I promise, you won’t lose me. Ever.”.

 

Minerva stared at her stunned, and before she could react, Clementine leaned in, planting her lips on the taller girls. A surprised noise left Minerva, but she quickly returned the kiss.

 

Their lips remained locked for several minutes, before they pulled away, both breathless. “Holy shit…” Minnie gasped.

 

“How romantic.” Clem giggled. Both girls smiled, before standing. They stood there for a moment, until they heard AJ in the distance. “Clem! Minerva! You guys out there?!” The young boy shouted loudly from below. Minerva gave a small chuckle whilst Clem rolled her eyes. 

 

“Good luck on patrol.” Minerva smiled, their hands holding for a moment before they split up.


	14. The Attack

Clem stood on the watchtower with AJ, searching for any signs of the raiders. AJ looked around, holding up the binoculars. “See anything goofball?” Clementine asked, raising a brow. The boy looked around, humming a bit.

 

“Nothing yet.”

 

AJ nods, before looking back to where Marlon was. “What’s wrong, Goofball?” Clementine asked, frowning at his change in mood, and how he was almost glaring daggers at Marlon, who was interacting with Louis and Sophie.

 

“Why is he still here?” AJ bitterly asked, “He gave away those two! He tried taking you away! He’s a monster, everyone hates him. So why is he still here?”. Clem looked at him in surprise, she hadn’t expected his reaction.

 

The hat wearing girl glanced over to Marlon, sighing heavily. “I guess he’s trying to atone. What he did was awful, yeah. But I think Marlon is genuinely trying to help fix things. Though he’s forced to.” Clem couldn’t help but scowl at the mullet bastard in the distance.

 

“Do you forgive him, Clem?”.

 

“Unless he proves himself, no. I won’t forgive him.’

 

AJ slowly nodded at her words, looking through the binoculars again. He looked around for bit, before he saw something. “Clem, look!” The young boy exclaimed, holding out the binoculars to Clem. Clementine grabbed them, scoping the area.

 

Just as AJ said, the raiders were coming in. At least 4 of them along with some horses carrying around wagons. Those would probably be used to trap some of them. Clem scowled, putting the binoculars down. “Come on, we need to warn the others AJ.” Clementine stated, starting to climb down the ladder, which AJ quickly followed.

 

As Clem was walked over, Minerva rushed up beside her. “Hey, no matter what happens, I know you’ll kick ass Clementine. It’s what you do, you’re an ass kicker.” Minerva stated, smiling at her. Clementine felt her cheeks turn a vibrant shade of pink, the girl growing flustered.

 

“Thanks, I know you’ll handle yourself too.” Clementine said. Minerva smiled at her, holding Clem’s hand until they got to the others.

 

Everyone had gathered up into a circle, they were ready, albeit nervous, but ready. “They’re really here.” Ruby gasped out, looking back towards the gates anxiously. “No one panic, Clem and I ain’t lettin anyone get takin.” Brody said in a firm, yet comforting voice.

 

Louis looked over to Clem, putting his hands on his hips. “So...any final words of encouragement?” Louis asked. Clem opened her mouth, but was interrupted by Brody yelling. Brody charged forward, tackling Omar down to the ground, a bullet lodging into the place where he once stood. “Jesus!” Omar exclaimed, looking at the spot, “I was nearly shot!”.

 

Clem looked at the spot, tensing. “SNIPER! Everyone take cover!” Clementine yelled, rushing behind a table. Brody took her rifle off her back, running over to take cover with Clem. The others behind the small wall by the school, looking over in fear as the barricade caught on fire.

 

“Clementine! Clementine, I know you’re in there! Clementine!” Lilly yelled as the gate was finally fell open.

 

Lilly stormed inside, followed behind by the other raiders and the horses. “Fuck…” Marlon trembled silently, staring at the ground. Louis gave him a nudge, glaring a bit. “Chill out, dude.” He whispered out, making Marlon hesitantly nod.

 

Mitch and Willy began to make their way to the carts, carrying the bomb that the three of them had been working on for so long. Brody bit her lip nervously, this had to go perfectly...if...if it didn’t then it was game over for all of them.

 

Clem noticed one of the raiders about to spot the two boys. She was about to rise., but Brody beat her too it. The redheaded girl stood up quickly, gripping her rifle. “LILLY!” She shouted, raw emotion laced in her voice.

 

Lilly looked over, her brows knitting together angrily as she glared at the girl. “Brody.” Lilly spoke, glaring deeply at her, “So the deserter actually survived?”. Behind her Mitch glared, wanting to fucking tear that bitch apart for hurting Brody. Willy nudged him, making him scowl as they moved forward.

 

The two girls kept Lilly distracted, but it didn’t last long. Lilly had turned her attention away from them, and looked around for the others. “Violet wanted to come here you know! She said she had a girlfriend here.” Minerva froze up, trembling, “A friend that made her laugh on hard times.” Louis flinched beside Marlon.

 

“Considering what Brody has told us, I highly doubt that!” Clem exclaimed, keeping her aim steady. Lilly glared, but it faltered when Minerva stood out of cover.

 

“Minerva?!” Sophie gasped out. “ _ I need to fix this... _ ” Minnie whispered, walking forward. 

 

Clem’s eyes widened immediately looking at the girl. “MINERVA NO!” Minerva flinched at Clementine’s yell, stepping back.

 

Before Lilly could grab Minerva, Mitch let the fuse. The two boys ran off as the bomb exploded, knocking Lilly and Minerva down. “Minnie!” Sophie cried out, watching in horror as her sister fell hard on the ground, knocking out from her head hitting the stone floor.

 

Marlon peaked out of cover, swearing angrily. “Cover me!” Marlon exclaimed. “WHAT?!” Louis gasped out as Marlon charged forward, hurrying to Minerva. Lilly whipped around, sadistically grinning as she saw Marlon. “Long time no see, Marlon. Why not make this easy and hand her over Marlon?”.

 

“Marlon, don’t you fucking dare!” Clementine shouted, glaring daggers at Lilly. The blond flinched, looking at Lilly.

 

“Lilly...I got one thing to say.” Marlon stood straight, correcting posture to face the woman. Lilly smirked, when Marlon whistled. Her brows raising with confusion, and yelled as Rosie rushed at her, biting hard into the woman’s leg. Marlon rammed his elbow into Lilly, knocking her down. He and Clementine made eye contact, nodding at each other as they had an understand.

 

_ Marlon protected us. _

 

As Marlon dragged Minerva to safety, Clem rushed inside with Aasim and AJ. Brody stayed outside, trying to prevent the raiders from getting it. It worked until Dorian tackled her roughly to the ground. A startled cry left Brody, the girl struggling to pry free from Dorian’s grasp. Her rifle clattered a few feet away, just out of her grasp. “Hold still you little traitorous bitch, we’re bring you back and fixing you!” Dorian shouted, grabbing Brody roughly by the hair and starting to drag her.

 

Brody’s screams filled the air, catching Mitch’s attention. “BRODY!” He screamed, standing up quickly. His pale eyes widened seeing her being dragged, his fist balling up in rage. “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HERE YOU BITCH!” Mitch screamed out loud, charging at her.

 

Dorian heard him, turning around at lightning speed, shooting her handgun. “MITCH!” Brody cried out, watching the bullet tear through her boyfriends ear. Mitch fell to the ground with a scream, clutching his ear.

 

The familiar screams terrified Willy, making him step out of cover. “Mitch!” He screamed out. Dorian looked up, seeing him, causing both Mitch and Brody to gasp in horror.

 

“Come here little man, won’t hurt if you don’t fight it!” Dorian shouted, grabbing Willy roughly by the arm. “Willy!” Mitch screamed out, disoriented. He struggled to stand up, only to fall. The ringing in his ears with never ending, and it was fucking up his senses. Brody ran over to Mitch, dragging him off to cover. “No, no Willy…!” Mitch shouted, struggling to sit up only to be laid back down by Brody. The girl looked at his ear, grimacing.

 

There was no time to breath though, as Clementine fell from the balcony with Abel. “holy shit!” Marlon yelled, his eyes wide.

 

Clem groaned as she pushed herself up, only to have a gun aimed at her. A soft gasp left Clementine, her eyes widening. Lilly stood before her, glaring down at the girl, yet her aim hesitated. “Fuck, this should be easy.” Lilly’s voice began to waver.

 

Amber eyes were filled with hatred, brows knitting together in anger, “I’ll see you in Hell.”.

 

“You’ll be there long before me.”

 

“I don’t mind waiting.”

 

Lilly went to fire, when a feral cry filled the air. Brody yelled as she tackled Lilly down, struggling with the woman as gunfire rang in the air. Taking advantage of this distraction, Clementine tried crawling forward, but was grabbed at the ankle. She glared, kicking Abel in the face twice. The man hissed in pain, trying to grab Clementine once again.

 

“BEGONE BASTARD!” Sophie shouted, stabbing Abel in the hand with a pair of scissors. Clementine looked up in surprise, the artist twin nodding to her, “Go, I got him!”.

 

Clem rushed forward, picking up her bow, her eyes widening in fear as she heard two yells. Minerva loudly grunted as she was shoved back by Dorian, her blood now crusted over her face. Brody screamed in terror as she was being dragged off to the wagon, 

 

_ You can’t save everyone… _

 

Clem bit her lip, firing the arrow into the raider that had Brody. Brody broke free, running over to Mitch’s side. Minerva yelped as she was knocked out, leaving Clementine to watch in anguish as her loved one was taken from her.

 

Loud growls filled the air, and she quickly realized walkers were piling in. Thankfully, Louis and Marlon rushed forward, helping her out with the never ending amount of walkers.

 

It felt like hours before the herd ended. Clem frowned, staring at all the damage. Marlon pinched the bridge of his nose, glancing over to Brody and Mitch. Mitch seemed extremely disoriented, relying solely on Brody. Louis looked around, frowning at he watched Tennessee and Sophie hug each other.

 

Aasim walked over to his, trembling lightly. “I can’t believe it… they got them. Willy, Ruby...and Minerva…” He could barely say the words.

 

“What do we do..?” Omar questioned.

 

“We go after them.” Brody stated as she walked over, Mitch behind her, “We get our people back, and stop them permanently.”.

 

“How? I wanna tear those fuckers apart for taking Minerva, but we have no idea where they are.” Sophie remarked, holding her brother close.

 

“No...but we know someone who does.” Clementine stated, turning towards the front of the admin building, seeing the undying bastard himself tied up to a pole. Abel groaned, looking up, gasping in horror seeing the furious children before him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Mitch is now deaf in his left ear.


	15. Beach

Interrogating Abel was quick and easy, many of the kids wanted their turn to slap him around. They had gotten a code word, along with a location, and were now on their way.

 

The way they got the information left the remaining students conflicted though.

 

Whenever Abel acted off, or refused to give them answers, Marlon and Clementine would take turns to beat Abel until he answered their questions. Hell, Rosie got a few chomps out of him. And when the time came, they left the fucker to turn right down in the basement.

 

Clementine led the group, following her were AJ, Omar, Sophie, Louis, and Marlon. Aasim wanted to come, but eventually agreed on helping Brody stay back and defend the school, along with clean up.

 

“Maybe one of us should’ve stayed back instead of Aasim. Did you see how fucking PISSED the dude was when they took Ruby?” Louis commented, getting a glare from Marlon, “What? I’m lightening the mood.”. Marlon just rolled his eyes at his best friend, but Louis knew Marlon agreed with him.

 

After some walking, they eventually arrived. “Alright everyone, split up and look for anything that’ll help us onto that boat.” Clementine stated, making everyone nod and split off.

 

Clementine ended up walking over to Omar, who was watching some raiders push around some supply crates on a raft. As she got closer, she noticed him holding something. In fact he held it rather securely. “Whatcha got there, Omar?” The chef looked back at her in surprise, not expecting this.

 

“Oh, Clementine! It’s...well it’s a rabbit's foot. My gigi was always going on about supernatural things, and I guess it ended up wearing off on me. We’ll need all the luck we can get.”

 

“You can say that again.” Clementine sighed out loud, she glanced around a moment, “See anything useful?”.

 

Omar gave a curt nod, pointing to the crates, “One of them fell overboard into the water. It looked like there were a ton of building supplies in there. Plus, Brody has mentioned that those crates also carry food and medicine. With Mitch’s ear and god knows what else, we’re going to need those supplies, it’d also be nice to have more things to cook.”.

 

“Thanks Omar, keep a lookout for me.” Clem said, heading back to check on the others. Louis and Marlon were crouched down, taking turns with the binoculars as they looked at the school. “See anything, Marlon?” “Louis, this is like the fourth time you have asked me that. No.”.

 

“What’d you find love birds?”

 

The two looked back at her, blinking slowly. “What,it’s a -nevermind, give me those.” Clem rolled her eyes as she took the binoculars from Marlon, moving forward as she scoped out the area. 

 

Many things caught her attention. The long pier, the large area of the beach that seemed to be their only way in, the small holes above the doors, and- “Holy shit, I see Minnie.” Clem gasped, watching as Minerva was walked through the boat, a raider following behind her carefully.

 

“Shit, this is the place then.” Louis grimaced, “We gotta get this done.”.

 

Clementine nodded, meeting up with AJ. After some talk the others eventually grouped up, ready to discuss a plan. “We’ll need a distraction to get onto that boat.” Louis stated.

 

“Those supplies can help us a lot. Especially rebuilding the school.” Marlon pointed out. “We can use the horses.” Omar commented.

 

After a moments of thinking, Clem nodded, “we’ll burn the hay.”.

 

The others nodded, trusting her plan and they all headed back. “Now that we have everything ready for a plan, let’s get home.” Clem stated. “Let’s hope those three are okay. Ruby and Willy have never been good under pressure, and I doubt it’ll be any better at the raiders place.” Louis explained, grimacing at the thought.

 

_ Please, please be okay… _

 

The five walked until they spotted a figure in the distance, dressed a lot like the raiders. The raider was no taller than Clementine herself, throwing her arms back as she swung down her ax. “Shit, hide!” Clem exclaimed. They all bursted into a sprint, rushing for cover. Clem poked her head out, and Sophie gave her a thumbs up. She took out her knife, quietly stalking towards the figure.

 

Waiting for the perfect moment, Clem got behind her, holding a knife up to the girls neck, making them flinch.

 

“Where are my people?” Clementine hissed out, you wouldn’t hesitate to slice this bitches neck open. “Fuck you.” The raider growled out. 

 

Clem prepared to pull the knife closer, when Sophie’s yell caught her attention. “Clem, don’t!” Sophie exclaimed. Clem grunted as the raider shoved off of her. The raider spun around, and froze seeing them.

 

“Holy shit…” Omar gaped. Louis was in stunned silence, while Marlon wanted to fucking die right now.

 

_ No such fucking luck. _

 

The others gasped as Violet fucking tackled Marlon to the ground with a loud thud. “YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!” Violet screamed out, removing her knife. Marlon tensed, and thankfully Omar and Louis pulled the erratic girl off of Marlon before she could stab him. “LET ME GO!” Violet screeched, struggling. Louis yelped as the knife sliced open his cheek, and the blade cut open Omar’s hand.

 

Clem glared, charging Violet, and restraining her arm back. “Keep struggling, and I’ll break your fucking arm!”.

 

“What the Hell, Violet..?! We thought you were dead, damnit!” Louis winced, holding his face. Marlon had ran over to his friends side, grimacing at the wound.

 

“FUCK ALL OF YOU! You abandoned us! Yet the second those three assholes are taken, you all run over without hesitation! Fuck every single one of you! All of you, our so called friends left us with them! Well, fuck you… Fuck all of you, because I know the perfect home now. So if any of you are smart, you’ll let Lilly take everyone when we come back. Otherwise you’ll die, and I’ll make sure I’m there to put a bolt between your eyes.”

 

The group was stunned by Violet’s words, and didn’t have time to respond as Lilly appeared, calling for Violet. The blonde glaring at them, and left. Once they were gone, the group came out, looking where she ran.

 

“What the Hell did they do to her…?”


	16. Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's shorter than normal sorry, I've been having really bad back pains lately and I can't write.

While Clementine and AJ left to find James, the others returned to the school. They were all still anxious. Violet was still alive..? It was hard to believe, especially after what Brody had told them. “What… what are we going to do..?” Louis hesitantly asked, holding a hand on his face.

 

Sophie noticed, “How is that feeling…?”. Louis winced slightly, holding his cheek. Sophie grimaced, folding her arms over her chest, “We can have Ru-...shit.” she frowned heavily, remembering those that had been taken.

 

Louis looked up, putting on a smile, “Don’t worry. We’ll get them back.”.

 

There was a long silence, and soon they returned to the school. Tenn stood on the watchtower, noticing them immediately. “They’re back!” Tennessee called out, looking really relieved as he saw his sister returning. The young boy climbed down quickly, swinging the gates wide open. Sophie gasped in relief, hugging him tightly.

 

“Anything?” Aasim asked, looking relatively tired. He hadn’t slept all day. Fuck, Willy was right behind him when he was grabbed, and Aasim couldn’t do anything to help him. Just like he wasn’t there to help Ruby… He then notice their injuries, “Jesus, what happened to you guys?”.

 

“You won’t fucking believe this Aasim, Violet’s alive, and she is PISSED. Attacked Marlon and we got cut up getting her..” Aasim stared at Louis dumbfounded.

 

“Violet’s alive?” Tenn seemed to ask for him. Sophie frowned, nodding slowly, “We all...need to have a talk, a very long talk.”

 

“Amen to that, Soph.”

 

All of them had gathered in the old headmaster’s office. Just by the looks alone, Brody had realized what this was about. Without Ruby, they didn’t exactly have any doctors or anyone like that. Tenn did his best by giving the two bandaids. He tried his best. Brody sat Mitch down, making sure he was fine before standing straight with a sigh, looking at the others with a grimace.

 

_ This wasn’t going to be fun. _

 

“Brody, we need answers.” Omar spoke, surprising Brody. He wasn’t one to start conversations.

 

The red headed teen grimaced, folding her arms over her chest. It would hurt to tell, but they deserved the truth. Taking a moment to compose herself, Brody spoke.

 

_ When it all started, Violet and I were thrown into the same cell. It wasn’t to big, just had a bed and closet in the room. It was miserable there. _

 

_ For days I would beat on the door, or try to find anyway out. Nothing, we couldn’t get the doors open, and there was no way out. Bout three days had passed, and it quickly turned into the worst day of my life. _

 

_ Not only had we arrived to the Delta...but Violet had just given up. Violet just...gave up. _

 

“I didn’t want to tell yal because I….I blamed myself for it. Gettin’ out, while she didn’t. I couldn’t bare tellin yal, especially Minerva. Minerva, it was so easy to see the damage it did to her. I’m sorry…” Brody’s voice wavered, and she looked on the verge of tears. Sophie suddenly stepped up, hugging her. Brody flinched in surprise, and soon Louis joined he hug. Mitch, despite his injuries, got up and joined the hug. Even Aasim and Omar had joined,

 

Brody sniffled, clinging to them.  _ Lilly was wrong, this was her home. _

 

Louis let go first, smiling. “I know a way to get our morals up. A party!” He announced, grinning happily.

 

“Fucking moron.” Aasim huffed.

 

“It actually sounds like fun, we could use something like that, get everyone hyped as hell before we tear up some raider bitches!” Sophie cheered, throwing her arms in the air, getting a glare from Tennessee, “Tear of some raider jerk holes!”. “Better.”.

 

“What are we doing???” Mitch asked, still unable to hear out of his ear. “A party sounds nice…” Brody weakly smiled as she held her boy.

 

“Let’s get this shit started then!”


	17. Over the Rainbow

No time was wasted, and the group got to work on the party. Tennessee and Sophie were working on decoration, separately of course, considering Sophie was smoking weed outside. No need for Tennessee to get some second hand high.

 

Sophie looked up as the school gates opened, a blunt in between her lips as she painted a sign. “Sup.” She managed to mumble out, pushing her ginger hair out of her face. Clem looked at her, then Aasim behind her.  _ Why the fuck was Aasim smoking it too? Probably involved the fact that his fucking crush was kidnapped by raiders too. _

 

“What’s that you got?” AJ questioned. “A paintbrush.” Sophie spoke, taking a drag.

 

“He’s talking about the weed idiot.” Aasim said, coughing a bit as he exhaled. Ugh, still smelled like shit the last time he did it.

 

Clementine rose a brow, folding her arms over her chest, “I didn’t know you smoked,”.

 

Aasim sat up from leaning on the wall, stepping out the bud, “Only when I need a reason to. So, did he agree to help? That weird walker friend of you and Brody’s?”.

 

“His name is James.” AJ stated, folding his arms over his chest. Aasim noticed, and he couldn’t help but smile.  _ Just like his sister’s. They’d copy any and every movement he did. _

 

“Yeah, did James agree to help?”

 

“James will help us. He’ll bring a herd in by the dock, it’s our only option in. They’ll provide enough cover sneak on. From there we can get onto the boat and find the others.” Clementine explained.

 

The two let out a sigh of relief, both more relaxed. “Great, now we got a badass plan involving a walker herd. This really does deserve a party.” Sophie stated, standing up and wiping the dirt off of her jeans. “You still need to wash all that paint off of you.” Aasim remarked as he started heading inside the admin building. Sophie mimicked him, before flicking him off and sticking out her tongue, resulting in Clem elbowing her.

 

“What do you mean party?” Clem questioned, putting a hand on her hip.  _ Damn, Minnie was right. Clem really was expressive with how she talked with her body. _

 

_ No wonder her sister was gay as shit. _

 

“Yeah, it was Lou’s idea. Thought it’d be an awesome boost that we all need before we siege some raider ass. That’s what all these badass signs are fo! Gotta keep everyone motivated if you wanna do good shit.” Sophie remarked. Clem gave an exaggerated eye roll, walking inside the school.

 

Louis was already there, crouched over some old boxes. “Need any help?” Clementine asked. The taller boy stood up alarmed, looking at her in surprise. “Woah, sorry. DIdn’t mean to scare you.” Clem remarked, not expecting his reaction, “Sophie told me about the party, so I wanted to help out.”.

 

It took him a second to relax, and Clementine noticed he looked stressed out as hell.    
“Hey, what’s wrong Lou?” She asked, a concerned expression growing on her face as she approached him. 

 

A soft sigh left Louis, his shoulders sagging as he stared at the ground. This was really unlike him. It honestly worried her.

 

“You know you can talk to me.”

 

Louis sighed once more, looking over to her. “Sorry, my mind has just been all over. You know what I mean? Seeing Violet again,” his hand rested on his bandaged cheek, “that really fucked with me. Me and her were close because of Minnie. I thought she was dead...then her head was fucked up.”. Louis suddenly stood straight, his frown deepening, “She hated us Clementine. Fucking hated us…”.

 

The way his voice trembled with every word, the tears threatening to run down his freckled cheeks, “Louis, take a breath, everything’s going to be okay.”.

 

He took a shaky breath, staring at the ground, “We could be maimed, shot, stabbed, the list goes on… that’s why I don’t want to keep it a secret anymore…”.

 

_ A secret? _

 

Clementine had never seen Louis so run down, it was a strange sight to witness. “I...Clem, ever since we met...I...I liked you, like a lot. I didn’t say anything before because I knew you and Minnie were close. Like really close. She was so happy for once, and I didn’t want to ruin anything...but with...with everything, I wanted to tell because I was scared I’d never be able to.”.

 

Louis’ words struck Clem deeply, this had not been what she expecting at all. He noticed her silence, looking away sadly. “It was stupid, I’m sorry for bringing it up.”.

 

“Louis-” Clementine frowned as he was already gone, “Damnit…”.

 

Shaking her head, Clem went inside the music room. Brody hummed softly as she looked at four jars with candles in them. The girl looked relieved when Clementine approached. “Thank the lord you’re here Clementine. I have been goin’ back and forth for so long on the colors. As you can see those idiots are no help.” Brody spoke, pointing to Marlon and Mitch blowing up balloons. They of course popped, scaring the shit out of Tennessee.

 

“How do you handle him?” Clem snickered.

 

“Love and the sheer will not to smack him upside the head with a gun.” Brody confessed, before pointing to the four jars, “Take yer pick.”.

 

On the table was a blue jar, a yellow one, purple, and green. “They’re all good colors, but I don’t know what-WILL YAL STOP POPPIN’ BALLOONS YER SCARIN’ TENN.” Brody exclaimed, stomping over, which left Clementine to pick the candles. 

 

_ Are all the redheads mama bears? _

 

Deciding not to say anything, Clementine picked up the blue jar. Guess blue was just a pretty color… it made her think of Minerva…. Her gorgeous eyes… “We’re gonna get them back.” She whispered to herself, going to tell Brody what color she had picked.

 

Shortly after telling Brody, Sophie and Aasim returned, carrying in the signs she had made. “We present the signs!” Sophie announced, getting an eye roll from Aasim.

 

The Pakistani teen looked around a while, before realizing Louis wasn’t around, “Where’s the idiot run off too? He planned the party and yet we’re doing all the work?”. Clementine grimaced at his words, biting her nails a bit. She needed to talk to him later.

 

Before she could even try to though, she was being dragged off by Mitch to help him with something. “Mitch! I’m-” She paused realizing he couldn’t understand her, so she moved to his left side. “I said I’m surprised you’re walking around right now, I thought Brody would have made you stay in bed.”.

 

It took him a moment to register her words, guess he still wasn’t fully there yet. It wasn’t surprising honestly, considering his ear was shoot only yesterday.

 

“What’d you need anyway?” She asked.

 

Mitch smirked knowingly, pulling a bomb from his pocket-WHERE THE FUCK WAS HE HOLDING THAT? Clem gawked at him, watching him put the bomb on the floor as if nothing was wrong with this. What kind of anti-gravity magic was this shit?

 

“I made a wicked ass bomb, since the last one worked so well. This time I scaled it up though, the maps Brody found helped a shit ton. I got enough gunpowder in these babies to light a bunch of bitches up! Those raiders are going to regret ever coming after us!” Mitch didn’t know how loudly he was talking, but the excitement was appreciated.

 

After some choice words, and carefully raising her volume to explain to him, they were able to get a secure plan. “Alright, we’re ready to blow these fuckers up. Teach them not to mess with us or my little bro ever again.” He stated, a touch of venom in his tone. Clementine smirked, fist bumping Mitch. 

 

This would be great.

 

After a while Louis had returned, and that sparked the beginning of the party. AJ and Tennessee picked the music for the party with the help of Marlon. “You poor children, Marlon here has no musical taste whatsoever.” Louis spoke, smirking as he put his hands on his jacket. Marlon scoffed, elbowing him roughly in the side. “Fucker.” Louis coughed out.

 

County. They picked country.

 

Sophie shook her head, watching AJ dance along with Marlon. “Your dancing is just as bad as your hair.” She stated, getting a scowl from the blonde. Hey, not her fault his hair was shit.

 

There was a light tugging on her hand, making her look down. Tenn nervously stared at floor, clinging to her hand. Sophie softly sighed, ruffling his hair. The little guy was so clingy ever since Minnie was taken. A soft sigh left her, looking around. “Let’s play a game, get the mood going.” Sophie stated. “Sophie, you’re stealing my thunder!” Louis cried out in pure anguish.

 

All of them sat in a circle, and Louis smirked. “Let’s do basic truth or dare. Old fashioned.”. “Oh god.” Aasim groaned. “YOU’RE SOUR MOOD WILL NOT DETER ME”

 

“Alright, Omar you’re up first.” The chef looked up in surprise upon being mentioned, and sighing softly. Rolling his eyes at the more ecstatic teen, Omar looked around, before his eyes fell onto Sophie. “Fine, Sophie, truth or dare?” He said, his voice laced with annoyance.

 

“Truth.” “Is it true you like-” “DARE!”.

 

Clementine rolled her eyes at her two, and they unintentionally fell onto Louis. He was smiling, but she could just see...he was still upset.

 

_ Shit. _

 

“Alright. I dare you to slap your least favorite.” Omar stated. Sophie smirked deviously to Marlon, making him gulp. “Marlon~” Sophie cooed as she chased him outside of the music room. 

 

_ It was best to just let it happen. If Sophie killed Marlon, it would be anti-climactic, but it’d be his end none the less. _

 

Clementine watched how the game turned into quick Hell, and to prevent everyone from going all out ‘Lord of the Flies’ or ‘Hunger Games’ on each other, Aasim pulled out a large box full of files. The amber eyed girl rose a brow as she looked at the boy. “What are those?” She asked. Aasim softly hummed as he flicked his fingers through the many files, searching through them.

 

“Earth to Aasim. What are you doing with those files?” Sophie asked, tilting her head side to side, letting her orange hair swish around her. The teen rolled his eyes, before pulling out a file.

 

“Some kind of ice breaker. What are you? Louis?” Omar groaned out. “I’ll pretend that isn’t offensive.” Louis spoke out.

 

Aasim groaned at the two idiots before looking at Clem, “Well Clementine, we all know a lot about you. It seems fair, since you know you’re leading up into a full on assault, you should know who we are. Like why we were sent here and shit. I’ll pull out random ones and you guess who it is, that shit.”.

 

Everyone seemed on board with that plan, so Aasim began to read the first file. “Blank is a smart student, but chooses to spend their time coasting along, focusing on other activities and outright refusing to obey the senior staff.”.

 

“That’s easy. Sophie.” Clementine spoke, smirking at the remaining twin. Sophie snickered, smirking, “Guilty as mother frickin’ charge.”. There was a proud smirk on her face, and Tennessee groaned. “She’s always been like this?’ Clementine groaned. “Hell yeah queen.” Sophie smirked.

 

_ Good lord. _

 

Aasim fished through the files, and pulled out a second one. It took him longer to find another file, and Clementine immediately noticed why, seeing him push down unfamiliar names. This must have been the kids Marlon had mentioned before.

 

“How many of us have we lost…?” It was Louis that spoke, his voice wavering ever so lightly.

 

Aasim went silent, his lips parting every few seconds to count the files. “28? 29? I don’t know, jesus.” Aasim grimaced, putting several files down.

 

Clementine frowned at the group. She knew exactly what it was like to lose people. It never got easier. “Justin, Therissa, Jasper. That one girl with braces...I can’t remember her name.” Brody frowned.

 

“Erin...her name was Erin…” Omar softly whispered out.

 

“Lamar, Dewey, and Trey.” Marlon grimaced. “Alex and Stephanie…” Louis whispered out, frowning deeply. Clem looked up at him, frowning softly. Alex, she remembered him mentioning that name. The others noticed as well.

 

Louis noticed Clem watching, and sighed a bit. “Alex was my older brother. When this first started, a lot of us were still pretty young. While most adults left...the older kids were left to watch us. As you can expect, they were the first to go. In fact...Alex didn’t make it past the first month. On one of our last hunting trips before the winter, and then...fuck there was just a herd of them… him and Stephanie told us to go to the school...run. We’ll be right behind you….”.

 

His voice trembled heavily, and Marlon wrapped an arm around his best friend. “They were a really cute couple…” Sophie couldn’t help but mutter.

 

Brody looked up, noticing the shift in mood. “Somewhere over the rainbow…” She softly sung out, resting her head on Mitch’s shoulder, “Way up high...and the dreams that you dream of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly…”. Aasim got up from the ground, putting the box away, bowing his head down, muttering a prayer in his native language.

 

AJ frowned, getting up as he noticed the shift in mood. Clementine looked up confused, seeing AJ grabbing the candle from the table, approaching her. The young boy frowned, blowing out the candle.


	18. Through the Dead

“Clem, it’s time.” AJ said, lightly shaking her. Clementine let out a soft sigh, pushing herself up. She got up, putting her signature hat on, and heading outside with AJ by her side.

 

_ This was it. This was really it. _

 

The group headed over to the beach, staying in the safe cover of the tree. “This is it. Holy shit, it’s huge.” Aasim gaped, looking at the boat. Mitch just smirked, looking at the bomb in his hands. “What’d you name it this time?” Aasim asked the brunette, noticing the letters scribbled on it. It was Mitch and WIlly’s dumb hobby. Any time they did something, it had to be named.

 

Mitch pondered for a second, before smirking, “Willy Junior.”. Brody rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

 

Clementine stood up, looking off to the boat. “Everyone remember their positions?” She questioned, folding her arms over her chest.

 

“Tenn, you and Omar are going to burn the supplies. Aasim, you, Mitch, and Soph-”. “What? No, fuck that! Minerva is my sister! My twin. I am not fucking staying outside while she’s in there!” Sophie demanded, her contorted in anger as she refused to back down. Clementine was honestly caught off guard by this behavior.

 

Marlon noticed this, and put his hands in his pockets. “She can go. I’ll stay here.” He stated. Clementine rose a brow to him, before nodding, “Fine, Sophie come on.”.

 

They were still waiting for James, and Brody dragged two walkers over. They’d need it. Mitch looked at her concerned, making the redhead sadly smile. Standing on her toes, she kissed his cheek. “I’ll be back, I promise you that. I ain’t goin anymore.” She said, making sure to speak in the ear he could hear from.

 

“Clementine.” Everyone gasped, turning around. “Holy shit.” Sophie gaped, taking a look at James. “Functional and fashionable. I’ll take two.” Louis said, getting elbowed by Omar.

 

Clementine and James talked for a moment, getting a plan secure. Marlon glanced over, and Louis smirked. “Someone seems interested in the walker boy.” He teased, making the blonde go wide eyed, staring at his best friend stunned. “Ohhhhhhhh~!” Sophie screamed out in the background, getting a facepalm from Aasim. “Keep talkin’ and we’ll spill yo beans next Soph.” Louis stated.

 

Clementine came back after a while, looking at the two walkers. “Here we go.” She said, taking her knife out. “Have fun with that.” Omar spoke, sneaking off with Tennessee.

 

Sophie rushed over real quick, enveloping Tennessee in a tight hug. “Be careful short stuff.” The ginger though for a moment, before taking off her hat, making her brother’s eyes widen. A smile cracked between her lips, as she put the hat on him adjusting the size. “Take good care of it for me, kay bud?” She asked, pushing the long orange locks from her eyes. The young boy slowly nodded, hugging her tightly once more.

 

“Come on, Tenn.” Omar spoke, looking back at the group, “We better see all of you safe and alive.”. “We will, all of us are getting out of this.” Clementine stated. Omar nodded, sneaking off with Tennessee.

 

Mitch kissed Brody on the lips, resting his forehead gently against hers. She frowned a bit, giving his hand a small squeeze, “I’ll be back before you know it. Willy will be right by me when I get back.”. He hesitantly nodded, leaving. 

 

Marlon gave Louis a hug, patting his bro on the back, “See you when this is all over?”. “You know it man, we’ll see each other soon.” He wasn’t going to lose another brother, never again. Marlon let go, smiling sadly at Louis, before running after Aasim.

 

The only that remained was Aasim, who looked anxious. Sophie noticed, slapping his back. “Relax short stuff, we’ll get Rubes back fine. Don’t worry bud.” She said calmly, hoping to calm her friend’s nerves. Thankfully it worked. Aasim nodded, heading off to join the other two. Sophie sadly smiled as he left, sighing softly. 

 

_ Fuck, she really liked him...as long as he was happy though. Yeah, damn right. If he was happy, she was happy. So she was gonna save his redheaded crush. _

 

Clementine sliced open the two walkers, and got to work covering herself. “Oh god…” Louis groaned. “It’s just paint…” Sophie muttered, slathering the guts onto her body, “Just cold goopy paint…”. The twin shuddered, poor thing looking ready to vomit. Louis wasn’t far off from her to be fair. “You’ll be fine you two, we’re gonna be okay.” Brody spoke softly, soothing the two.

 

After they finished covering up, it was time. “Everyone be careful.” Clementine said, and entered the horde.


	19. Onto the Deck

The five began maneuvering through the herds,  heading closer to the boat. Louis glanced around the herd, keeping a secure grip on the bomb. Clementine looked back at him, taking his hand in hers. His eyes widened, staring at her in surprise. “It’ll be okay...I promise…” she whispered. The boy stared at her, before nodding slowly.

 

“Let’s get through this. Use the walkers as cover!” Brody called out, grabbing onto a walker to use as a shield. The others followed her example, horribly moving through the crowds.

 

Clementine grew anxious as they got closer, less and less walkers being around. Thankfully before they ran out of cover, the distractions began.

 

Loud booms were heard in the distance, and the group looked over to see firework like explosions happening. “Jesus Mitch.” Sophie muttered, watching them in aw. AJ lightly nudged her leg, making her move forward.

 

With the well timed distractions, the five were able to get one. “Holy shit we made it…!” Sophie gasped as they took cover behind a crate.

 

“It’s not over yet. Now come on.” Clementine spoke, leading the way. She led the way, climbing down into the water, leading the way. “The walker guts are washing off.” Louis whispered, grimacing. Clem hushed him, getting to the ledge of the dock. After peaking out to see if the area was secure, Clem pulled herself, hiding behind a large set of crates.

 

It led to to a long dock that led to the entrance of the boat. The only thing blocking their path though. A spot line and a sniper.

 

“Alright let’s-“ Brody suddenly rushed forward, rolling out of cover and to the doorway.

 

“Goddamn Brody.” Louis gaped. Even Clem was surprised, watching how she got through with ease.

 

Following Brody’s lead, the group got through the spotlight, and eventually made it to the door. “Shit it’s locked.” Sophie hissed out, shaking her head.

 

AJ rushes forward, and it seemed Louis and Brody had the same idea. While the two of them hoisted AJ up to the open hole above the door, Clementine and Sophie took down oncoming walkers. “Let’s show these fuckers who’s boss, Clem!” The artistic twin smirked, taking out a gun.

 

Damn, Brody really gave everyone one that could shoot well guns.  _ Nice. _

 

AJ got the door open, and the four rushed in. Louis closed the door behind them, taking a deep breath of relief. “Holy shit, we’re in.” He breathed out. Clem nodded, looking around. She immediately noticed how Brody trembled. Her hands shook, eyes wide in true fear, her legs locked into place. Clementine walked over to her, gently taking her hand. “It’s okay Brody, they won’t hurt you again. Not with us here.” Clementine stated. Brody took a deep breath, slowly nodding her head. “Let’s get out friends back.” She breathed out.

 

The group began moving through the boat, Brody leading the way. “Which way is the boiler?” Louis asked, looking around to see if any raiders were around.

 

Brody did a silence motion, pulling compact mirror from her pocket. Where and when the hell did she get that from? The glass was slightly smudged, but she was able to see. Holding it out slightly past her cover, she was able to see the pathway was clear. “Damn Brody, when you’re done with that, can I borrow it? There’s a part of my hair that I can’t tame for the life of me.” Louis spoke, making Brody crack a smile as she led the way.

 

After some quick navigating, the group was able to find themselves near the boiler. “Alright Willy Junior, it’s time to blow some raider ass up.” Clem spoke, putting the bomb in. “We are all very proud of you.” Louis spoke, while Sophie saluted.

 

Once the bomb was in place, it didn’t take much longer for them to get into place. Brody was the first up the stairs, ready to get up when she suddenly stopped. “What is it?” AJ asked, seeing her freeze up. Louis gave Clem a concerned look, making the hat wearing girl sigh. She went up, seeing what Brody was looking at.

 

Violet and Dorian stood before the hall with the cells, in a heated argument. “Keep an eye on those little shits.” Dorian ordered, looking back at the cells with absolute disgust as she rubbed her hand. 

 

“Maybe you should learn to be able to handle a bunch of shit kids, Dorian.” Violet bitterly remarked, getting a slap across the face. Brody tensed up, cowering behind Louis. The taller boy grimaced, taking her hand. Shit, this place was bringing back a ton of bad memories.

 

Dorian stomped off, leaving Violet there. Violet angrily shook her head, heading in the opposite direction. “Good thing Vi is still pissy as ever.” Louis muttered out, following after Clem.

 

The girl hurried to the cells, looking around. There were four cells, and she heard a noise. It sounded like crying? A her heart dropped, praying they weren’t to late. Her worry dropped when Ruby suddenly stood up, looking through the barred window of the door. “Oh my god, Clem is that you…?” She whispered out, glancing around.

 

Brody let out a sigh of relief, “The red four seems to be safe still.”. Ruby gave her a weak smile, silently glancing back as she heard the whining noise. Sophie looked over easily, it being easy due to her height. The ginger frowned, spotting the small body quivering in a corner. Ruby glanced back, frowning.

 

“Vi hit him, real hard. He was talkin’ about Mitch comin’, along with yal. It straight pissed her off.” Ruby was struggling to hold back her anger, the red headed nurse looking ready to tear Violet apart with her bare hands.

 

_ Aasim would be proud. _

 

“Don’t worry Willy, Mitch is right outside. He really missed you.” AJ said, beside Clem. There was no response, making him frown. Clem gently patted the boys back, and moved to the other cage. 

 

“Minerva?” Clem softly called out, seeing the silhouette of the girl, curled up in the corner of the room. Minnie’s head whipped up in shock, her pale blue eyes widening. Clem gasped seeing her unharmed, wasting no time to open the door. Much to her relief, she heard Brody and Louis work on getting the other two out. “Hold on, we’re going to get you out.”.

 

Clementine entered the room, and let out a horrified gasp hearing yelling and gun fire. Her heart clenched recognizing the yell as Louis’. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” It was Violet, shit!

 

The girl turned around, tensing to see Violet holding AJ back, the crossbow dangerously close to his head. “Don’t you fucking touch him!” Clementine shouted, ready to lunge forward.

 

“I’M NOT FUCKING AROUND! ALL OF YOU GET INTO CELLS, I’M GOING TO BLOW HIS BRAINS OPEN!” She screamed out, making Clem flinch. The girl grimaced, stepping back. Violet scowled, shoving AJ into a cell with Louis, locking the doors. Clem rushed up to the door, glaring as Violet locked them all in.

 

“Crazy bitch.” Sophie hissed out, pacing in the cell. Clem ignored the furious teen, walking over to Minerva. She thankfully looked more maintained than Willy and Ruby, but it also concerned her.

 

Did Violet say anything to her?

 

The taller twin stood up in surprise, wrapping Clementine up in her arms immediately. “Oh my god Clementine..!” Minerva took a shaky breath, clinging to him, “I was so worried...why did you come back here..?!”. “To get you obviously.” Clem stated matter of factly, gently resting her hand onto Minnie’s cheek. A saddened expression crossed the ginger’s face, and she shook her head, stepping back. “Minerva?” Clem asked.

 

“What did the bitch say to you?” Sophie got defensive real fast seeing how her sister acted, which only upset Minerva more.

 

“Don’t get mad at her, it wasn’t her fault Sophie! It was all of ours..! We left her behind!”, “Oh hell no, DO NOT FUCKING PUT THIS ON US MINNIE! We didn’t know this would fucking, so don’t you dare!”.

 

Clem shook her head furiously, walking over to the door to check on the others, “Is everyone okay?”.

 

“Vi took Brody, Clem! Just grabbed her and fucking left!” Louis exclaimed while pacing anxiously. They had just gotten their friend back, the thought of just...losing her again, especially to Lilly and her team of kid killers. It was fucking terrifying, no, more than that.

 

“We gotta go.” Ruby spoke from her cell. “No fucking shit, there is a bomb!” Sophie exclaimed, startling the others. 

 

“Sophie, calm the fuck down!” Clem shouted, “You too Louis. We can’t focus on panicking or fighting each other, we all need to focus on getting the hell out of here!”. The others went silent, staring at her stunned. Clementine turned around, facing Sophie as she took a deep breath, “Still got your pottery knife?”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for late update. I've been sick on and off. Good news is, it's my spring break, so expect more updates hopefully! Though it might be a bit slowish as I am starting a stranger things story soon.


	20. Belly of the Beast

Sophie gave a determined nod, pulling the knife out of her boot. “They never check the boots.” She smirked, passing it off to Clementine. The hat wearing girl nodded, turning to the door. It was time to get out of here.

 

Clementine crouched down, holding the knife, she started to chip away at the screws in the door.

 

It didn’t last long though.

 

“Hey!” Dorian screamed out, hitting the door. Clementine flinched, dropping the knife as she looked up wide eyed in surprise. “Whatever doing, stop. It ain’t worth it, I can tell you that much.” Dorian hissed out. Clem scowled, standing up to glare at the woman. Dorian glared back, but stopped hearing footsteps.

 

Ruby backed up in fear as Lilly approached, small whimpers from Will being heard deeper in the cell. Sophie turned to Clementine in alarm, and the girl quickly kicked the knife under the bed.

 

Lilly stepped before the door, looking at the three girls inside. Minerva was stiff as a board seeing Violet behind the woman, while Sophie stepped in front of her twin defensively.

 

Knitting her brows together, Lilly opened the door, pushing it open. Clem stood firm, glaring as Lilly held up her gun. Making sure they wouldn’t move, Lilly moved inside the cell, Violet taking her place. “Fucking bitch, where’s Brody?!” Sophie demanded, her twin looking at her startled. “Soph, shut up..!” Minnie gasped, getting ignored. Sophie stomped forward, having the balls to get in Violet’s face. “Where the fuck did you take her?! Huh, where is SHE?!” Sophie shouted, throwing her arms in the air.

 

“Keep talking, and I’ll cut out your fucking tongue-” “Enough.”. Violet looked at Lilly surprised, and couldn’t read the face on their leader. Was it interest, annoyance, or a mixture of both?

 

Staring at the slightly shorter twin, Lilly’s lips curved into a smile. “Dorian, why not show her where her friend is? It’s the least we could do.” Lilly stated. 

 

“Sophie!” Minnie cried out as the woman grabbed her sister, roughly pulling her out of the cell. “Don’t you fucking-” Clem tried to get her, but was blocked off by Violet. She grimaced, backing up, now standing beside a tense Minnie.

 

Lilly looked at the two remaining girls, observing them. “I want to tell you a story.” Lilly stated, “Let’s call it the parable of friends.”. An immediate sense of dread filled Minerva, looking at the woman terrified. The others grew uneasy, having an idea of what she would say next.

 

Making sure both girls were focused on her, Lilly began to speak. “Once there were two girls, not the closest of friends, but they cared for each other. They had a home, lots of friends and even lovers.” Minnie grimaced looking at Violet, “However, the girls were forced to leave their home. It was a hard change, leaving so much behind. But the new home was a good home. Warm showers, soft beds, lots of food, and guns to protect them. The people welcomed them with open arms, and all that was expected of them was to protect their home.”.

 

“Did they see it that way?” Clem asked bitterly, getting a venomous glare from Lilly.

 

The woman continued nonetheless, “One of the girls eventually wiped her tears, and vowed to protect her home. Sadly, the other girl couldn’t forget her home. So, she convinced the other girl to leave with her, take a raft and leave. They didn’t get far though.”. Violet’s aim wavered, frowning as she looked at the ground. Lilly side eyed the girl, smirking. “What happened to her, Violet?”.

 

Minnie felt her heart drop, turning to Violet with pleading eyes. The blonde bit her lip, closing her eyes tightly. Slowly she reopened them, a look of anger crossing her features. “I killed her… or so I thought.”.

 

A horrified gasp filled the hall, everyone reacting in their own ways. “That was you?!” Ruby exclaimed, stunned. “Oh my god…” Minerva covered her mouth in sheer horror, staring at her former girlfriend.

 

“You fuckers, you fucking brainwashed her!” Louis yelled, hitting the door with his fist. “Hey, cool it back there!” Dorian snapped out as she returned.

 

“I don’t care about your stories, you don’t scare us.” Clem stepped forward testingly, narrowing her eyes at Lilly. The older woman was unphased though, standing up.

 

Turning back, she said words that terrified the group. “They clearly didn’t understand the moral of the story. Grab the mouthy one.”. Clem gasped, her eyes wide as Dorian opened the cell door to Louis and AJ’s cell. Louis backed up in fear as the woman approached her, his eyes going down as the woman pulled out one of Minerva’s axs. AJ stepped in front of the woman glaring, yet it did nothing, as she grabbed Louis.

 

Louis grunted as he was shoved to the floor, his eyes wide in fear as Dorian held his arm down. “Just hold still.” The woman hissed out, raising her arm back. The boy looked up, his eyes falling on Clementine, pleading.

 

Clem looked back at him, frozen in place. A gasp left her as she watched the ax go down, covering her mouth as Louis’ blood curdling screams filled the air. Louis whimpered loudly, curling up on himself, cradling his hand as blood oozed from the missing pinky.

 

Anger welled up in AJ, seeing Louis get dragged back inside of the cell. “We’ll kill you!” He snapped out, catching Lilly’s attention. The woman stepped out of Clem’s cell, looking down at the young boy curiously. “We let Abel turn, made him suffer! We’ll make you suffer too!” AJ yelled, glaring as Lilly stared him down, “Bang.”.

 

The woman’s lips curled into a smirk, “You have so much potential.”. Clem’s eyes widened, staring forward in horror as Lilly grabbed AJ by the arm. “AJ!” Clem tried to rush forward, but Violet blocked her path.

 

“Get this boat moving, I want to be out of here now.” Lilly demanded, leaving with AJ. Clem looked at Louis in horror, remembering the bomb.

 

They had to get out, NOW!

 

Quickly picking up the pottery knife, Clem began chipping away at the rusted hinges, Louis taking care of distracted Violet. The girl wouldn’t admit it out loud, especially next to Minerva, but Louis angry was hot. After a few hits, the hinge was off, now all the door needed was a push.

 

Clementine stood up, getting a concerned look from Minnie, “Don’t hurt her too much, please.”. The girl grimaced, but slowly nodded. Looking forward, she stepped back, and lunged forward. Violet let out a yell as the door collided with her, dropping her crossbow.

 

Pushing herself up, Clementine ran to Louis’ cell, pulling open the door. “Clem, behind ya!” Ruby called out. She turned around stunned, barely in time to see Violet charging at her with a knife. Clem caught her wrist, struggling to push her off. Gray-green eyes glaring at her, kneeing her roughly in the gut, and doing it again.

 

Clem grunted as she was knocked to the ground, Violet pushing the knife harder, cutting her chest which caused Clementine to scream. “You’ve been nothing but a thorn in my fucking ass!” Violet shouted, ready to stab Clem in the heart.

 

Louis rushed out of the cell, freeing Ruby and Willy real quick. He saw Minerva frozen at the door way, swearing under his breath. Rushing forward, he picked up the crossbow, holding it up, “VIOLET!”.

 

The girl didn’t get up, making her grimace. This used to be one of his closest friends, and as much as he hated to say it, there was nothing left of her.

 

Biting her lip, he fired. His body flinched hearing her scream, looking in horror as the bolt tore through Violet’s shoulder. The blonde fell off of Clementine, gasping in pain. Clementine got back up, looking at Louis, mouthing a thank you. Louis silently nodded, dropping the crossbow as he stood up.

 

Clem took the knife from Violet, looking up as Ruby and Will stepped out of the cells, the boy clinging to her. “We gotta go!” Ruby stated.

 

“Go ahead, I need to find AJ!”. “Better see y'all on land then.” Ruby ran off with Willy, Louis following after them. God, Clem hoped they found Brody and Sophie. Her eyes wandered to Minerva, who was cradling Violet, muttering apologies. She frowned, shaking her head. She needed to get AJ. Stepping over the two, the girl rushed out of the hall.

  
  


Louis ran with Ruby and Willy, only stopping when they heard yelling. It sounded like-

 

“GET THE US OUT OF HERE YOU EVIL FUCKING BITCH!” Yup, that was definitely Sophie. Ruby gave him a nod, continuing off of the boat whilst Louis freed the two redheaded girls.

 

Sophie rushed out, looking around in panic. “Where’s my sister?!” Sophie yelled, making Louis flinch. He pointed in the other direction, and Sophie was already bolting that way. 

 

Brody turned to him concerned, the girl thankfully wasn’t injured, but she did look scared. Louis grimaced, taking her hand, wincing. Her pale eyes widened seeing the boys missing pinky. “Come on, we need to get out of here.” Louis grunted, starting to run after the two with Brody.

 

_ Jesus fucking Christ, that girl. _

 

The sky was dark, growls from the dead grew louder as she made her way up the steps. Amber eyes flicked around the top of the boat, softly gasping as she watched Lilly drag AJ off. Her brows knitted together in anger, climbing up the stairs. “Hold on a little longer AJ.” Clem breathed out, moving forward.

 

Lilly reached the end, letting go of AJ. A blonde raider approached the woman, saying something she couldn’t fully hear. Lilly folded her arms over her chest, giving a curt nod.

 

Two raiders came over, barely giving Clem time to hide. They passed her, and once they were gone, she rushed forward, getting as close as she could without being spotted. Much to her relief, it seemed like Lilly’s focus was on a figure, in which the relief faded instantly once she saw who the figure was.

 

James let out a groan of pain as his mask was ripped off of him, quickly met with the sight of Lilly. The walker boy scowled at the woman, clenching his fist. “No wonder there were so many walkers.” She hissed out, staring him down with pure disgust.

 

Shaking her head, Clem ignored most of what Lilly had said, getting closer to them. “You don’t fucking scare me.”  _ Marlon would lose his shit hearing that. _

 

To her horror, the situation escalated as Tennessee was brought over, the boy shaking in fear. “Shit.” She needed to act fast.

 

Not giving the woman a chance, Clementine rushed out of cover, tackling Lilly with a yell. James got up again, fighting off the blonde raider, leaving the two boys to watch in shock. Clem struggled greatly against Lilly, the woman having far more training than her despite Richmond. A yell filled the air, and Clem looked down, startled to see AJ had stabbed Lilly in the leg. Lilly growled, kicking AJ off of her.

 

“I’m tired of you hurting the people I care about!” Clementine snapped out, kicking the knife in Lilly’s leg. The woman screamed in pain, and one more kick got Lilly off of her. The woman fell to the ground, gasping as she saw the gun. Looking back at Clementine with a sneer, she reached out for it, only for AJ to pick it up.

 

All eyes were on him, seeing him aim the gun at Lilly. James’ protest and Lilly’s pleas inaudible to him, all he did was look at Clem. This was his first kill, and he needed to know.

 

Clem locked eyes with him, and nodded slowly, closing her eyes as the gun went off.

 

That was that...Lilly was gone, it was over. The boats violent shaking brought them back, reminding them of the bomb. “The bomb!” Tennessee exclaimed. James looked at the boat smoking, going wide eyed before tackling Tenn down.

 

“AJ!” Clem screamed out, running towards him, only to be knocked back by the blast.


	21. Capsize

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who finally graduated and is back into writing! ME! God, it feels so great to write again!

Clem let out a groan as she slowly came too, her eyes slowly opening, and letting out a startled gasp as she saw the fire. Oh god, this was bad, this was really bad!

 

Pushing herself up weakly, she grimaced as Lilly’s corpse slid down as the boat tilted. Shit, where were the others? Clem lifted herself up onto the rail, managing to stand up. Loud, vicious growls filled the air, making her look down. Hundreds, if not thousands of walkers were moving around in the waters. If they jumped dow, it’d be over in seconds.

 

“No!” Clementine yelled as a gust of wind blew her hat off. Watching the hat fly off, she felt a part of herself disappear too.

 

“CLEM!” AJ screamed out, catching the girls attention. She looked around, her eyes widening as she saw AJ dangling from a piece of the broken boat.

 

Moving through the boat carefully, she managed to jump onto a lifeboat just in time. Balancing the best she could, Clementine looked upwards, her heartbeat quickening. “AJ, hold on! I’m right here!” She looked around for any other way to reach him, but saw nothing. Biting her lip, she locked her body up, determined to keep her position. “AJ, you have to let go! I will catch you I swear!”.

 

AJ looked down, biting his lip. With a yell, he let go, sliding down. Not wasting a second, she leaned forward, catching the child. He clung to her, gasping out loud as the boat rocked.

 

Knowing they needed to get out, Clementine quickly checked over AJ, “Any injuries buddy? Anything?”. A sigh of relief left her when he shook his head. AJ grimaced seeing Lilly’s body slide off the boat, looking around at the carnage around them.

 

“Where is everyone else?”

 

That question made clementines stomach drop as she looked around the wreckage of the ship.  _ Had the others made it to safety? _

 

Before she could respond, the boat violently shook, reminding her of their situation. Despite her deep concern, Clem knew they needed to get moving, otherwise their stories might be cut short. Making sure AJ followed close, the two began to maneuver through the ship.

 

There were many close calls, but they eventually got close. “Come on!” Clem took AJ’s hand, dropping down to the platform below. “Hey!” Clem gasped in horror, turning around to see a raider standing across from her, armed, “You ducking caused this you-!”

 

The two watched as an arrow went through the man's head, surprising them both. 

 

Clem quickly turned, spitting Marlon across the beach, somehow rearmed with his signature bow. A look of concern crossed his features when he realized Louis wasn’t with then. It passed quickly when he heard feral growls behind him.

 

“Get your asses over here! The boats not gonna last much longer!”

 

“No need to tell me twice!” Clem shouted. AJ gave Marlon a thumbs up, before following Clementine across the dock.

 

Loud screeching came from the boat, and they watched as it began to fall. Making sure AH was by her side, the two began to run as fast as they could, eventually getting knocked off their feet from the boat crashing down, the two blacking out for a moment.

 

Clementine came to quickly, groaning softly as she found herself on the ground. Numerous growls filled the air, making her slowly focus. Through the thick dust cloud, she could hardly see. That was until a walker passed through, shuffling towards her. She gasped, trying to get up, stop it from reaching her and AJ.

 

The walker didn’t have a chance to, as a spear went through its chest, knocking it into the ground. The walker growled, trying to get up before a boot went down on its head. “Fucking die already!” Omar hissed out, tearing the spear out of it. He took a breath, relaxing as he faced Clementine and AJ.

 

“Holy shit…” Clem murmured, who knew the group chef was a badass. Omar smirked a bit at the two, before holding out his hand, “Come on, we need to get moving. Aasim and Mitch are guarding the horses. Brody is over the in cover with the others.” Omar explained.

 

“What about the twins and Lou-“ “GET THE FUCK OFF OF HER YOU BASTARD!”, “Get your nasty, grubby fingers off of me!”

 

Clementine turned around in alarm, going wide eyed seeing the struggle the two were in. Near the water, a water has latched onto Sophie’s leg, trying to sink it’s teeth into her leg as Minerva struggled to pull her twin sister free. Meanwhile, Louis was trapped underneath a walker, trying to claw his way free.

 

“Oh shit, they need help! AJ!” Clem shouted, to which the boy nodded, picking up a rock. Clementine took out her knife, rushing over to help the twins.

 

“Minerva, Sophie, look out!” Minerva looked back, shocked to find Clementine. Seeing Clem brandishing her knife, Minerva gave a hard tug, freeing her sister just as the blade tore into the walkers head, oozing out black blood. 

 

Tearing her knife free, Clem took her  _ girlfriend’s  _ wrist, tugging it, “We need to leave! There’s too many walkers!”. The taller redhead paid her no attention, keeping Sophie close. AJ rushed over, the young boy freezing upon seeing Sophie’s shirt blooming out blood at alarming rates, the girl hardly conscious. “Oh my god, what happened to her?!”

 

Minerva looked up, her breath hitching as tears streamed down her cheeks, “S-She…! Fuck I was with Vi, and then Sophie cane in they. They got into a fight, and Vi ran to the boiler! Sophie chased her to stop her and..! Fuck, Violet turned around and shot her….!”. She couldn’t bare speaking anymore, breaking down into messy sobs as she held Sophie.

 

A grimace grew on Clementines face, looking around the beach. Fire and walkers filled the area, blocking most exits.

 

Shit, they couldn’t give up so far in!

 

Clem hurried over to the twins, helping Minerva bring Sophie over to the crates where the others were. Omar, Ruby, Willy, Marlon, and Louis were there, said group looking relieved to see them. “Louis!” Clem gasped out, hurrying over. The taller boy let out a startled gasp as Clementine pulled him into an embrace, and it took him a moment to relax into it.

 

The two remained in embrace for a moment, before pulling away. “Your not dead, that’s great.” He cracked a small smile. Clem let out a shaky breath, looking down with a grimace. The look on her face caught Louis’ attention immediately. “Hey, don’t worry. I’ll be fine, see?” Louis held injured hand up quickly, a look of pain betraying him though.

 

_ How could I freeze up? _

 

Marlon glanced around anxiously, biting his lip intently. “Where’s James at?”

 

Concern filled Clementine, remembering where she had last seen him, “He wasn’t with you guys? Shit, I saw him last before the boat exploded.”. Marlon’s concern grew, staring at the ground. Clementine noticed, leaning over and placing a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly. “Marlon, I have know James for quite a while. If there is one thing he is great at, it’s getting out of rough situations. I know he’ll be okay.” She explained.

 

The blonde lifted his head, a weak smile on his face. It was still insane that only a few weeks ago, she wanted nothing more than to hang him by the mullet. Guess times have changed.

 

“Can we focus on the situation at hand please?! We need to find a way to get to Aasim and Mitch! Does anyone have a plan?!” Omar’s tone stunned everyone, making them look around in shock.

 

Clem took initiative, peaking out of cover, watching as the remaining Delta soldiers tried to fight off the herd. As she looked around, she spotted Aasim and Mitch. 

 

Brody let out a gasp of relief seeing her boyfriend safe and sound. Gently pulling Willy to her side, Brody stood up, waving her arm. “Mitch! Over here!” She shouted, hoping he’d hear. Mitch turned around, barely able to hear her with his injured ear, but the look on Aasim’s face caught his attention.

 

“Brody!” He called out, beaming. One of the soldiers noticed them, firing at the two boys. “Get your ass back, Mitch!” Aasim grabbed Mitch’s arm, yanking the taller teen behind cover. He didn’t move fast enough though, a bullet tearing through his shoulder.

 

“Aasim!” Ruby screamed in horror, putting a hand over her mouth.

 

Clementine grimaced, looking out of cover. “Go, I’ll distract them, okay?”. “What? Are you insane?! There are way too many of them!” Minerva remarked frantically, struggling to keep her sister awake. Pale eyes met bright amber, the two staring at each other intently, “I can’t...I can’t lose anyone else!”.

 

Her hand reached out for Minerva’s quickly, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You won’t, I promise. Now get ready to move.”.

 

Minnie grimaced, squeezing Clementine’s hand back. Mouthing a silent ‘I love you’,she moved back. Clem took a gun from Brody, taking a nervous breath. It still felt wrong to hold this after the ranch, but it was what she needed to do to get them out.

 

Quickly stepping out of cover, Clementine began to fire, taking out any raiders that remained. “NOOOO!” A loud scream filled the air, catching their attention as the others were about to cross over.

 

Violet stood, frozen in horror as her fellow soldiers began to fall to the ground. Her horror turned into a rage, a raw scream tearing through her as she picked up her ax, swinging it at all the walkers around her.

 

“She’s going to get herself killed.” Louis grimaced, shaking his head lightly. Minerva was stiff, looking over at the girl she had loved all her heart once.

 

“Go!” Clem snapped out, they couldn’t waste anymore time!

 

Marlon led the group, all of them crouched down and moving as fast as they could. Mitch had sat Aasim in the carriage, grimacing at his friends wound. Aasim shook his head, waving him off to help the others out. Mitch grimaced, but nodded, firing arrows at any walkers that got close. Most of them had made it over, but Minerva froze up hearing a scream.

 

The tall redhead turned around, her pale eyes widening in anguish as a walker tore it’s teeth into Violet’s cheek. “VIOLET!” She screamed out, attempting to run forward, only to be stopped by Louis. “Minnie, it’s too late for her! We need to focus on your sister!” He exclaimed.

 

Her heart tore in two, a soft sob coming from her lips. ‘I’m sorry...” Minerva sniffled, before turning away, hurrying to the carriage.

 

“Oh my god...ugh, Sophie?” Aasim gasped out, seeing the horrible state his friend was in. Minerva grimaced, starting to hoist her sister into the carriage. Louis had climbed into the carriage before her, he and Aasim pulling the unconscious redhead into the carriage.

 

“CLEMENTINE!” Louis and Minerva whipped their heads back to where the girl they loved stood, “FUCK YOU!”.

 

Snatching a grenade off the floor, Violet bit the pin off with a growl, reeling her arm back. Clementine quickly raised her gun, shooting Violet in the shoulder. The blonde screamed out in pain, clumsily throwing the grenade. It was still too close thought much to Clementine’s horror. Wrapping her arms around AJ, she leapt far as she could from the blast, using her body as a shield to protect him from the blast.

 

A loud bang filled the air, terrifying the horse. Ruby let out a startled yell as it bucked back, barely able to keep her grip as it suddenly bolted forwards. Louis yelped as he fell out of the carriage, landing hard on Minerva. “LOUIS!” Marlon screamed out, watching his best friend fall. He couldn’t reach out for him, as the horse was already darting down the forest, getting farther and farther from the beach.

 

Clem pushed herself up weakly, groaning. Loud growls filled the air, reminding her of their predicament. The girl stood up, startled as she saw Louis and Minerva not far off. Why were they here?!

 

“Come on Clem, we need to get out of here!” AJ exclaimed. Clementine grimaced, looking over to the two teens that ran over to them, “Stay close and don’t get grabbed! We can’t fight this herd!”. They nodded, and all four of them began to run.


	22. Waterworks

AJ ran ahead, his younger body giving him much more speed compared to the other two. Clementine ran as fast as she could, knowing there was no chance for them to fight off the herd. Minerva nearly tripped up a few times, Louis made sure to catch her best he could, wincing anytime she landed on his injured hand.

 

“Over here!” AJ shouted, pointing to a small rock wall. “Go! We’re right behind you!” Clementine responded. The younger boy nodded, hopping over the rock wall. Clementine vaulted over, followed behind by Louis and Minerva.

 

He glanced back, letting out a terrified breath, “Shit! They’re right behind us! We’re fucked!”. Clementine elbowed him, glaring at the taller boy, “Do not chicken out on me now Louis. We are going to make it! Now shut up and move!”. Louis stared at the shorter girl stunned, before nodding, running after her.

 

The four of them ran far, the dead still on their tails. Much to their relief, a familiar figure stood at the end of path, in front of a set of caves. “James, I can’t believe I am saying this, but holy shit am I glad to see you!” Louis exclaimed as the four stopped. James looked at the four, staring at Clementine even longer. Her brows knitted together, staring right back at him. The two remained in this stance until growls from the dead caught their attention.

 

“Move it!” AJ shouted, running into the cave. Minerva took a shaky breath, staring to move in as fast as her long body would let her. The girl hated small dark spaces, and she began to sing her favorite song to keep her calm. Louis followed in after her, swearing to himself. Clementine was about to follow, when James’ spoke, “You can never take it back. I saw the look in his eyes.”.

 

This caught her off guard, making her turn to James, “What are you talking about?”.

 

He shook his head with a glare, heading inside the cave. Clem looked at where he entered, glaring lightly as she followed.

 

_ I did the right thing. Lilly hurt too many fucking people for the last time. _

 

Squeezing her way through the tight entrance, Clementine joined the other four, finding them all stuck in place. “What’s wrong?”.

 

“Hey, Clem we got a huge problem.” Louis spoke, turning around to face her,  “It’s dark as shit, so we can’t see a way out!”. She grimaced, running a hand through her hair, “Don’t panic. We need to stay calm, okay? I’ll find us a way out, I promise. We are going to get home.”.

 

“Yeah..yeah, first thing I’m doing when I get home is playing us all a nice victory song.” Louis stated, making Clementine smirk. “Good, I’ve missed your music.”.

 

“Can we focus?” James snapped out, “There are many on the way. We can’t stay in here.”.

 

Clementine gave a small nod, starting to move around the cave as she searched for a way out. Minerva stood by the entrance of the cave, sitting in a fetal position. Louis sat beside her, failing to calm his friend down. Minerva always had bad anxiety, but it had never been in this scale. When Clementine came over, Louis looked up to her sadly. “We’re going to be okay…”

 

_ Maybe if she kept saying it, she’d believe it too. _

 

Moving around some more, Clementine found a few items. Much to her relief, these were just the things she needed to craft a torch.

 

“Please work…” She softly begged as she began striking the flint against the cloth. It took several strikes, but eventually a spark caught onto the cloth, lighting up the torch. She scooped it up immediately, letting out a thankful breath. 

 

The joy was short lived, as raspy growls filled the air. Louis looked back with a grimace, turning to Clem, “Great, you got a fire. Now we need a way out!”.

 

Taking the torch, Clementine quickly got to work, searching for any potential exits.  _ God, it’d a lot easier if some of these asshats actually helped me. Not Minnie and AJ though, they’re cool. _

 

After some quick searching, Clementine eventually spotted a large dead tree trapped on the rocks. “There! Louis, come help me!” Clementine called out. Louis rushed over quickly, wasting no time to help Clementine push the tree. 

 

It took their combined strength to knock it over, watching the tree get caught down the stream. “The tree won’t hold, everyone move!” Clem called out, lifting up the torch. Louis helped AJ on first, waiting for him to cross then following the young boy.

 

“Clem, they’re coming..!” Minerva gasped out, shaking lightly. Clementine stared at her, feeling her heart race. “Move! I’ll be right behind you!” Clem exclaimed. The redhead tensed, but eventually started to move across. James followed after her, leaving it to Clementine to cross. The girl looked back with a gasp as she saw how close the dead were getting.

 

Time to move!   
  


Keeping a firm grip, Clementine leapt over to log, yelping as she nearly fell over. “Clem!” AJ cried out in terror. Planting her foot down, Clementine was able to balance herself. Holding out her arms, the girl began to inch her way across. Between the walkers behind her and the strong waters just before her, Clementine was terrified of falling over.

 

_ Ever...ever since Luke died, water had always been one of her greatest fears. One slip up in it...and you could be gone forever. _

 

She shook her head, moving as fast as she could. The tree shook, and she knew it was time to go! Crouching down, Clementine put all her strength into her legs, jumping across.

 

A yell came from her as she landed roughly on the hard cave floor, groaning lightly in pain. She pushed herself up, watching the tree, along with some walkers, be swept down the stream and taken down the waterfall. Good riddance.

 

Getting onto her feet, Clem hesitantly looked back to the caves, grimacing. “Farther down the rabbit hole they go…” Louis whispered, starting to walk. “Let’s hope there’s a way out…” Clementine softly said, following him, completely unaware of James’ burning gaze behind her.


	23. Tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be short because the next one is 3 thousand plus words

The group moved deeper into the caves, stopping as they looked around. “Oh...shit…” Louis gaped, seeing all the different exits. “You can say that again…” Minerva muttered, looking around in shock.

 

There were multiple ways out, no obvious exits. Things just got a lot harder.

 

“Now what..?” AJ softly asked, looking at Clementine. The girl immediately noticed this. Sticking the torch into the ground, Clementine crouched down to his level. “Is something wrong goofball..? You look…” She couldn’t find the proper words, grimacing lightly to herself.

 

The young boy was silent for a moment, before he started to speak. “I… Clementine, why did you make me kill Lilly?”.

 

The moment those words left his lips, all eyes were now on the two of them. 

 

_ Shit. _

 

“Clem, what did he just say…?” Louis questioned, turning to her with wide eyes. Clem went wide eyed, looking at the others. They all were staring at her. Louis was startled, Minerva  simply nodded her head, and James was enraged.

 

Oh...shit. 

 

Standing up, Clementine was cut off by James stomping over. “You did what?” James scowled, clenching his fist. Despite him getting in her face, she didn’t step down. 

 

“I did what needed to be done! Lilly hurt so many fucking people! She killed someone in the very beginning on a hunch! She took away Brody and Violet, had Louis’ finger cut off!” Clementine retorted, stepping forward, “I did what had to be done. I wouldn’t take any of it back.”.

 

“Of course you wouldn’t, because you didn’t do it, Clementine!” James snapped out, his fist balling up in anger, “You can’t take back your first kill, Clementine! Once it’s done, you can never go back! You did this!”.

 

Louis grimaced at the tension, taking a hesitant step forward, “Guys come on, can’t we talk this out?” Louis nearly begged. The dreaded teen grimaced seeing her was being ignored, backing up beside Minerva.

 

The two teens continued arguing, until AJ snapped at them, “Enough…! Don’t be stupid! We need to get out of here! I...I didn’t like killing Lilly...but it had to be done. So we all need to be smart, and get out of here! The walkers could get in any second now!”.

 

The four teens stared at the boy stunned, shocked that it took a six year old to smack sense into them. “Shit, AJ’s right...we need to get our heads together and find a way out.” Minerva softly spoke, glancing to the entrance where they came from. Clementine hesitantly nodded, looking around.

 

“This isn’t over Clementine, this will have consequences.” James bitterly remarked.

 

“No, it is, James. I know it wasn’t fair to AJ, but what’s done is done. What matters now is getting my people home.” Clementine explained, looking around the other cave entrances in hopes of finding a way out, “I know you care about them too...and I know you have every right to say no, but please, help us.”.

 

James grimaced, looking away from them. Minerva glanced at Clementine, stepping forward, “James, you have helped us so much in the past month. We can’t even begin to thank you. A lot of us care,  _ Marlon _ , you should come back to Ericson’s. With us.” Minerva explained, subtly taking her...girlfriend’s hand and squeezing it.

 

_ With recent events, Clementine didn’t know what they were. _

 

Louis stepped up with a smile, “Hell yeah man. While I don’t agree with your style, I know it’ll be fun to have you around.”. _ That and his best friend was totally gay for him. _

 

James looked at the group, contemplating for a moment. He couldn’t think long though, as growls filled the air. “Oh shit.” Minerva gasped, “How did they get across..?!”. Louis looked down at the torch, noticing how the fire moved in the breeze, “Clem! Look, we got a way out!”. Amber eyes shot down to the torch, quickly picking it up, her eyes following the cave passage where it led, “Come on!”.

 

The growls grew closer, and James’ shook his head. Stepping forward, the whisperer pulled out two knives. “Dude, what are you doing?” Louis asked.

 

He glanced back, getting in position to fight, “Go, I’ll hold them off.”. Clementine looked at him, grimacing before finally nodding. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” She said. AJ grimaced, running ahead, followed by Louis. Minerva took Clementine’s hand, running outside of the cave with Clementine, growing farther and farther from the growls.


	24. Escapism

Clem panted as she, AJ, Minerva, and Louis ran through the forest. She huffed, pausing as she looked back, the others did as well. “Do you think he’ll be okay..?” Louis asked, looking back. Clem paused for a moment, looking back with a grimace.

 

“I’m sure he’ll be okay...Come on.” Clementine stated, walking forward. The others headed off, AJ trailing hesitantly in the back, Minerva alongside him. Clem looked back at the girl she had grown close too, frowning. Violet being like that… it destroyed her. Same as it did Brody. The two of them blamed themselves for Violet ending up this way. If something didn’t change soon-

 

A noise caught their attention, making them all tense. Clem took out her knife, ready to strike. Louis and Minerva were ready as well, Louis grabbing a large rock and Minerva brandishing one of her axes.

 

They stood firm ready to attack, when Marlon and Brody stepped out from the tree line, both gasping in relief. “Clem, Minnie!” Brody took a breath of relief, smiling. Clem smiled back, hugging Brody. “Thank christ yer okay, had us all worried once that horse had gone and run off without yal.” Brody said softly, pulling away, resting her hands on Clementine’s shoulders. The girl with bright eyes smiled back in response.

 

Marlon immediately ran forward, hugging his best friend. “Shit man, when you fell out of the wagon...fuck we thought you were gone.” Marlon shook his head, letting go of Louis, checking him over.

 

Louis rolled his eyes, but smirked. “Please, it’ll take more than that to kill the funniest guy alive.”.

 

“You wish.” Marlon scoffed, before looking back, concern filling him. “Did you guys see James out there?”.

 

Louis glanced back into the caves, grimacing, “We… He went in with us, some walkers caught up with us, and he stayed back to hold them off.”. The blonde went wide eyed, looking down at the floor. Louis noticed, putting a hand on his best friend’s shoulder, “You can’t be serious, come on Marlon. This is James we’re talking about. You know, resident badass.”. This made Marlon smile a bit, relaxing due to his friends comforting words.

 

Clem rolled her eyes at the two boys chatting, turning to face Brody. “So, how’d you two unlikely partners in crime end up here?”.

 

Brody looked back at the two brothers bickering, folding her arms. “I saw yal get left behind and I wanted to come. Marlon said he wanted to come for Louis...and you three. I think he’s actually comin’ around Clem. I… I might actually forgive him.” Brody spoke softly, looking at the blonde haired boy.

 

This shocked Clementine, “Really?”.

 

“Yeah, yeah I’m sure.” She responded, heading over to the two. Clem raised a brow, watching her approach them. Brody talked to the two for a bit, and after a moment Louis walked over. He shrugged, and they began to walk, Brody and Marlon talking ahead of them. Clem looked at the two, and smiled a bit. Marlon really had changed for the better, this apology was the best for both of them.

 

“So, any idea how far we are from the school?” Clem asked, looking at Louis. The boy hummed a moment, thinking as he looked around the area. 

 

“There should be an old bridge nearby. We passed it a bit near the beginning, I don’t know how stable it is.” Louis explained, a smile growing on his face, “We did it clem, we actually did it.”. “ Yeah. Yeah, we did do it, didn’t we?” Clem smirked, those fuckers learned a hard lesson. 

 

Louis made a soft grunt of pain, holding his hand. Clem looked at it, frowning. God, she felt so guilty. “How’s the hand?” She questioned.

 

Louis looked up, wincing. “It hurts like hell. Could’ve been a lot worse.”

 

“Coulda had yer whole face raked open like mine!” Brody called out from the front, making Marlon roll his eyes, “It’ll go away though Lou, just give it time.”

 

Louis stared at his hand, then to the redhead in the front, “I’d ask you for a pinky promise, but, uh...yeah.” Louis said. 

 

Minerva lifted her head up, speaking for the first time since the two had shown up, “How’s Sophie? Was Ruby able to patch her up? I hope Tennessee wasn’t too freaked out by...by her injury. I m-mean, w-we don’t really get shot at the school, is she okay?”.

 

A wave of guilt hit her as she said those words. If she hadn’t stayed back with Violet, Sophie never would’ve been hurt.

 

Brody and Marlon stopped in their tracks, looking at each other in silence. This caught the group’s attention. “Why are you two quiet?” AJ asked, frowning a bit.

 

Letting out a heavy sigh, Marlon turned around, facing them. “We… I’m not going to sugar coat it. Sophie… She fucking died of her injuries before we could help her. We made sure she didn’t turn though.” Marlon quickly explained. 

 

“Marlon!” Brody glared. 

“She deserved to know the truth, Brody!” Marlon snapped out, silencing her.

 

Clementine turned around quickly, grimacing as she turned back. “Minnie…” Clem began, to which Minerva held up her hand, silencing her. Minerva walked ahead, moving fast with her long legs. The others watched her, before beginning to follow, leaving the gentle chirping and soft breeze as the only noise they heard other than Minerva’s painful whimpers.

 

“My parents were trying to build a house.” Louis spoke after some walking, searching for a way to break the silence. Marlon glanced back, slightly concerned, knowing how talking about his parents affected Louis. It always had been a hot topic for him….

 

“What did it look like?” Clem asked.

 

He grimaced, staring at the ground, “they never finished it.”. That was all he could muster out. Clem noticed, and smiled a bit.

 

“How about we build it? The two of us can do anything when we get home. We’re ninjas after all.” Clem’s words worked, and Louis smiled widely.

 

“Alright, first things first. What color?” He asked.

 

Clem hummed for a bit, that was an interesting one. Many colors went into her mind, but nothing seemed to fit ‘Louis’. “Why don’t you pick the color? What would you want it to be? Louis?” She asked.

 

His grin grew, “Purple.”. Brody and Marlon bursted into laughter in front of him, making him scowl. “I PICK purple because it’s unique, and how many purple houses do you see around? If we’re gonna do it might as well stand out.” He stated, “How many floors?”.

 

“Three.”.

 

Louis grinned, holding out his arms, “I’m seeing it. And I like what I am seeing Clementine.”. “You’re fucking stupid.” Marlon scoffed. “What I see is a party pooper. If you ignore the shit it’s fine, we were missing something.”.

 

Now Clementine knew exactly what they needed, “A tree house.”. “Hell yeah a fucking tree house!” Louis beamed.

 

Marlon looked back at the others, grimacing a bit before he spoke. “I...we’re going to fix things. All of us. Ericson’s will be a real home for all of us, it’ll be completely safe.” Marlon stated. Clem smirked at Brody, who was smiling happily. Brody deserved this, and in a way, so did Marlon. He really was atoning.

 

After some walking, the group found themselves at the bridge. So many years in the apocalypse hadn’t done it well. It looked ready to collapse if you stepped in the wrong place. Louis glanced around, folding his arms over his chest. “Is there a way around?” He questioned.

 

“You suggested it Louis, this is the only way. We’ll just have to go slowly.” Clementine responded, being the first to go across, stopping as a hand grabbed hers. The girl looked back in surprise, seeing Minerva looking at her in concern. “I’ll be careful, I promise…” Clem stood on her toes, kissing Minerva. Their lips remained locked for a moment, and soon Clem pulled away.

 

Her hands gently slipped from Minnie’s, and started to cross the bridge. Marlon and Brody followed behind her, shuffling along the bridge. They had to move carefully, stopping often as the boards below them creaked. 

 

“Jesus…” Minerva whispered. “Just stay calm and we’ll be okay.” Brody said.

 

Clementine got to the end first, sliding over a truck that remained on the bridge. The others eventually followed, and they reached the end of the boards. Only two large boards leading to the other end, which was a couple feet away at least. Clem grimaced as she looked down at the edge, seeing the long fall and rushing waters.

 

“That’s far…” AJ grimaced.

 

“Really far.” Marlon commented, putting his hands on his hips.

 

“We can jump it. It’s not that far.” Brody stated, looking at the group, “Yal just gotta put all the strength in yer body in yer legs and give yerself a good push. Runnin’ starts help too.”.

 

“Alright, we just have to be-” “Never mind the darkness.” 

 

Clem’s mouth dropped, and the others froze. Louis slowly looked at Clementine, shaken as hell.  “Never mind the storm. Never mind the blood red moon.”. They all turned around frantic, eyes widening as they saw a figure coming up the hill, axe slung over their bloodied body.

 

“Jesus Christ!” Marlon exclaimed in horror.

 

“Violet..!” Minerva gasped in horror, seeing her former girlfriend covered in gaping walker bites and blood. Clem took her arm, holding her back with a grimaced, “Minerva don’t.”.

 

A gasp of absolute horror left the group as they saw her cleared. Blood and walker guts covered Violet from head to toe. Gaping bites all over her body, the most grotesque one being the one in her left cheek. “Holy shit…” Marlon gagged, ready to be sick on the spot. To make matters worse, walkers were following her, heading straight towards.

 

Violet limped towards them, looking more horrifying than any walker Clementine had ever seen. “Minerva..! I did it, I found you..! Oh, Minerva… Come back! I know I said some awful things, but come back to me please…! Come with me!” Violet called out. 

 

Minerva backed up, shaken to the core, her pale blue eyes wide as saucers. Her hand went to her mouth, grimacing, “You’re dying, Vi...”

 

“Yes, yes I am..! But Minerva, I’ll go to a better place…! No more walkers, no more traitorous bastards..!” Marlon and Brody cringed at that, “I want you there with me...the two of us can be together again..! It’ll just be the two of us..!”. Minerva looked at Violet, taking a hesitant step forward.

 

“Minnie, no!” Clem begged, “That’s not Violet anymore, look at her! Please, don’t go with her! She’s gone!”.

 

Before Minerva could respond, Violet shot into the air, attracting more walkers. “Shut up! You, you’re the one that turned Minerva away from ME! This is the way it had to be, and I won’t let some random bitch take her from me! ANY OF YOU!”.

 

The group hid behind the truck, grimacing as more walkers come. “We can’t jump when Violet’s firing the gun off like a fucking maniac!” Marlon shouted.

 

“Violet, stop this please! Just stop, please!” Louis shouted, praying he somehow reached to the girl that was once his close friend. “Don’t do this!” Clem shouted.

 

“She needs to be with ME!” Violet demanded, “Don’t worry Minerva, they can try to stop me, but I won’t let them us..! We’ll be happy together again. The night will be over soon..”.

 

Minerva stood anxiously, and Clem tried to pull her back. Violet scowled, immediately ready to fire. Clem ducked back, and Marlon tackled Minerva down, yelling. “Marlon!” Louis exclaimed, looking at his friend. Marlon hissed in pain, putting a hand on his right shoulder, the bullet tearing completely through it. Minerva gasped in horror, seeing the wound.

 

Violet glared, backing away as the herd began to close in on the group. “I’ll help them across the gap!” Louis said quickly, heading over to Brody and AJ. Marlon grunted, getting up, his eyes landing on Clem.

 

“Here.” The amber eyed girl gasped as he held out her bow to her, “You can use it a lot better than me right now.”.

 

Clem nodded, taking the bow, providing covering fire for the group. She had to duck down every few seconds, just barely avoiding Violet’s erratic fire.

 

Louis shuffled over to her quickly, “Brody and Marlon are across, but Minerva won’t fucking budge!”. Minerva was huddled on the ground, curling up on herself. Marlon and Brody stood on the other side, pleading for her to jump. Clem grimaced, she had to stop Violet.

 

The second she stood up though, Violet was already there, kicking her hard in the face. Clem grunted as she fell, gasping as Violet jumped. The girl barely rolled away in time, gasping as she felt the vibration of the axe slamming into the wood boards. Clem yelled as a walker grabbed onto her foot, struggling, only for it to be shot in the head. Brody stood at the other end of the bridge, holding her rifle.

 

Louis picked Marlon’s bow off the ground, ready to shot Violet when she rammed into him. “Louis!” Clem grunted, seeing him slide down from the wall. Minerva looked back stunned as the bow fell, landing into the rapids below.

 

“You didn’t love her like I did!” Violet screamed, about to shoot Clem. “No!” Minerva elbowed her hard, making Violet stumble. Fuck, she didn’t want Violet to die, but she didn’t want Clem hurt either damnit! Clementine pushed herself up, ready to tackle Violet when the blonde spat blood in her face. Clem screamed, wiping at her face as Violet charged for the axe.

 

“Brody, shoot her damnit!” Marlon exclaimed. “I can’t, I might hit one of them!” Brody said, her aim waving back and forth as she tried to get a proper aim, but couldn’t.

 

Violet yanked the axe out of the ground, swinging it down, slicing Clem’s leg clean open. An agonizing scream left Clem as she fell to the ground, grunting as the looked at the nasty wound.

 

“Clem!” Louis shouted, slowly getting up. Clementine struggled to back up, looking at Violet in horror. Violet pushed herself up with the axe, limping over. Clem stretched, grabbing the gun.

 

“We’re going-!” Violet couldn’t finish as she was shot in the shoulder by Clementine. Violet stumbled back, looking in horror as the walkers began latching onto her, biting deeply into her flesh.

 

“No!” Brody cried out in horror. Marlon trembled lightly, staring at her in horror, “I’m sorry…” was all he could muster.

 

“VIOLET!” Minerva screamed in anguish, running forward. She tried reaching out for her, looking in horror as Violet was feasted on by the herd, listening to her screams. Violet looked at Minerva, struggling to reach out for her as well.

 

Louis got up, looking at Minerva, then Clementine. “Get across! I got Minerva!” He shouted, running over to her. Clem grunted as she pushed herself up with the axe, hobbling over to the ledge. “JUMP!” Brody screamed. Clementine tossed the axe and gun first, backing up. A yell left her as jumped forward, feeling the wood planks break underneath her, and barely making it across. Marlon took her with her arm, pulling her up to be by them.

 

“Louis, Minerva, get your asses over her!” Marlon yelled out, looking at them. Louis struggled against Clementine, grunting. AJ spotted the gun on the floor, rushing over to grab it.

 

“Minerva, come on! We have to go now!” Louis pleaded, trying his damndest to ignore Violet’s screaming.  _ Damnit, why wouldn’t she just die already?! _ “Minerva please, you’ll fucking die if you help her!” Louis pleaded, struggling to hold back the twin. Minerva grunted, struggling desperately, “Let me help her!!!!”.

 

“Let her go! You’ll die if you don’t!” AJ pleaded, holding up his gun. Brody fired at the walkers, swearing as the herd was never ending. AJ gripped the gun, but found he couldn’t fire, making him frown deeply. “Throw her!” He shouted.

 

Louis listened, wasting no time to throw, more of shove, Minerva across the ledge. Minerva grunted as she landed heavily on the ground, looking up in shock. Clem helped Minerva stand, looking back in absolute horror. Louis stared at them stunned, gasping as walkers surrounded him immediately, quickly latching onto him.

 

An anguished scream left Louis as the first one tore into his neck, a second one biting deeply into his arm, both tugging him aggressively.

 

“LOUIS!” Marlon screamed out in absolute horror, frozen in place as the walkers tore into Louis’ body. The two walkers bit deeply into him, and Louis’ legs gave out, falling onto all fours. Blood splattered everywhere as they tore into him. The boy gasped loudly in pain, looking at the group wide eyed. Making immediate eye contact with his lifelong best friend and the girl he had fallen head over heels for. Louis held a trembling arm up, struggling to say something, anything!

 

“NO!” AJ screamed as the walkers flipped Louis over, tearing into him. “NO! LOUIS!” Clem screamed. Brody screamed, crying heavily as she couldn’t tear her eyes from the horrorid sight before them.

 

Clem could only stare in horror, feeling tears stream down her cheeks. Louis… no, it...no..! The guy that made everyone laugh, annoy them with his jokes, or serenade them with a song...he was just...gone…

 

AJ clenched his fist, glaring at Minerva. “He died because of you!” AJ screamed at her, hitting her hardin the arm. Minerva flinched at her words, looking mortified as she stared back through tears at the walkers tearing her best friend apart. 

 

_ It was her fault...she got Louis killed... _ .

 

“W-We need to go…” Clem whimpered, seeing all the walkers. She began limping ahead, Minerva and Brody rushing forward. Clem stopped though, noticing Marlon frozen in place. The girl grimaced, limping back and taking his arm, “We need to go…” she sniffled.

 

Marlon stared heartbroken at the group walkers, a heavy sob leaving him, his entire body trembling as he cried. “I-I’m sorry, Louis… fuck I’m so sorry…” Marlon whimpered as Clementine grabbed his arm, forcing him up. 

 

Without another look, the group rushed to the forest, hoping to escape to dreaded herd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hurt me please


	25. Lonely Roads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the 2nd to last chapter, and honestly I am not ready

The remaining group went as fast as they could, searching for any way to escape the herd. Clementine struggled to keep up with them, her limp slowing her down greatly. “There! There’s a fence over there, come on!” Brody rushed ahead, tossing her gun over the fence.

 

Minnie paused, glancing back at Clem, “Clem, let me-” “Just go, Minerva!” Clementine shouted, they needed to keep moving! The ginger grimaced, before climbing over the fence with ease due to her height.

 

Marlon was stuck in place, looking back at the bridge with vacant eyes. “Marlon! We need to go!” Brody shouted to him, trying to snap him out of his trance. Marlon refused to move, falling to his knees. “Just go…!” He shouted, looking at the oncoming herd. It wouldn’t be fair if he made it and Louis didn’t… it wasn’t...wasn’t fair…

 

An agitated grunt left Clementine as she hobbled over to him, much to AJ’s dismay. “Marlon! You need to move! Louis wouldn’t want you to throw your life away!”

 

Thankfully, that snapped him out of it. He stood up, weakly nodding as he looked back at the bridge one more time. 

 

_ Goodbye, Lou. _

 

Not wasting another second, Marlon ran to the gate, climbing over to the gate, joining the other two girls. “Clementine!” Brody called out, watching anxiously as the girl limped over, her eyes widening, “Behind you!”. Clem turned around, gasping in surprise as a walker nearly grabbed her. Before it could, AJ fired his gun, blowing the walker’s head open. 

 

“Come on Clem!” Clem nodded, grunting as she limped forward, quickly throwing her ax over to the top of the rocks, and once AJ was up, she started to climb up.

 

_ Let them get out of here safely, please. _

 

Brody led the way, shooting at the walkers that got close to either of the three. Normal the noise would make her worry about using the gun, but right now that was out the window! They needed to clear out a path and get out of here!

 

Minerva glanced around at the countless undead around them, her heartbeat ringing in her ears. Violet and Louis’ blood practically burned her skin, this was wrong. THIS WAS ALL WRONG!

 

“Minnie! We need to go!” Brody exclaimed, shooting another walker, gasping in shock as he gun clicked, “Shit!”.

 

The ginger looked over sadly, taking a shaky breath. “This is all my fault..! All of it is my fault..! I’ll… I’ll only put you all in more danger..!” Minnie cried out, shocking Brody. “Minnie, what are you-?” “I’m sorry..!”

 

“MINERVA!” Brody exclaimed, watching her run away into the forest. She tried to run after her, but Marlon grabbed her arm.

 

“Fucking let her, we need to get back to the school!”

 

Brody bit her lip, but gave a shaky nod, the two teens running through the forest, praying their friends would manage to escape the hell that had claimed their lives over the past month.

 

Hours of running was eventually rewarded with the wonderful sight of the school. “I never thought I’d miss Ericson’s…” Marlon murmured, looking sadly at the boarding school. It was their home, the place where they were all forced to grow up...it was the painful reminder of all the friends they had lost.

 

A familiar face appeared on the guard post, gasping in joy, “Holy fucking shit! Guys, they’re back! They’re back!”. 

 

Brody’s heart fluttered, tears threatening to leave as she heard the sweet voice of her boyfriend. Without a moment's hesitation, she rushed forward. Aasim smiled softly, opening the gate with his uninjured arm, letting the redheaded teenager rush into her boyfriend’s embrace with enough force too almost knock him down. Mitch quickly wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. 

 

“Never do anything like that ever again Brody, you fucking hear me?!”

 

“I won’t, I promise.” Brody sniffled, clinging to him.

 

The others hurried over, looking at the two with joy and relief. After so long...the nightmare was finally over...or so they had hoped.

 

“Where Clem and AJ? And Minerva?” Tenn’s soft voice asked from beside Ruby, poor boys voice was still raw after Sophie’s unfortunate passing. “Louis isn’t here, he’d normally be gabbing our ears off by now.” Aasim remarked.

 

Brody and Marlon looked up in horror, the latter looking at the ground, struggling not to cry. Rosie whined, coming over to her human, pawing at his leg. “What happened?” Ruby asked.

 

Seeing how torn Marlon was, Brody stepped forward. It took a lot not to break down into tears, but she managed to hold herself together long enough to speak.

 

“We… Louis is dead… so is Violet. It happened on that old abandoned bridge from a herde. Clem was hurt, but she and AJ got off through some high rocks. And...we ended up losing Minnie on the way here, lost track of her when the herde got too thick.” Some of the others had suffered so much already, it didn’t feel right to tell them what really happened with Minerva… it didn’t feel right to tell Tennessee especially.

 

The others were stunned, not knowing what to say or do. The gravity of the whole situation was so heavy. They had such a huge victory...but all at the same time a horrific set of losses.

 

Willy grimaced, slowly looking up and gasping. “James…”

 

“We don’t know what happened to him, he…” Brody paused hearing a thud behind her, and turned around quickly. Pale blue eyes widened finding an unconscious Clementine and AJ in front of the gates, but no one else. Clementine had very weak breaths, gasping from a fever that came due to the growing infection in the cut on her leg. AJ was thankfully fine.

 

“Clementine!” Ruby hurried forward, checking the wound, “It’s a nasty infection. We gotta get her cleaned up, now!”. Mitch and Omar hurried over, picking up the girl while Brody hefted up AJ. Rosie let out a curious whine, looking off into the forest. Marlon looked out with her, at a loss for words.

 

Did...did James do this…?

 

Staring out for a moment longer, he eventually closed the gates behind him, hurrying inside the school to help anyway he could. Maybe they could finally start to rebuild, make something better out of this school.


	26. Safe and Sound

AJ took a firm grip on the spear, looking at the stream before him. “Come on, come on.” A fish came to sight, and he lunged forward, piercing the waters with the spear, and hitting nothing. “Shit!” He groaned. The young boy tsked, glaring a bit as he heard an exaggerated whine beside him. He glanced over, seeing Rosie whining at the empty bucket.

 

“Not my fault fishing is stupid.” AJ groaned.

 

A familiar whistle filled the air, making Rosie perk up her ears. Listening to the whistle, Rosie hurried over to the other person. “It’s okay girl, I came so you wouldn’t starve.” Marlon took a fish off the spear, tossing it to Rosie. The dog took it with ease, happily barking as she proceeded to chow it down.

 

“You make it look so easy.” AJ grimaced, turning back to the water.  _ Aim where it’s gonna be my ass. _

 

“Longer arms, better advantage.” Marlon remarked, stabbing another fish and dropping it into the bucket. Rosie happily barked, looking at the bucket. AJ turned to the dog, letting out a sigh as he tried to figure out what she could possibly be thinking of.

 

After some thought, the boy folded his arms. “You’re making fun of me aren’t you Rosie?” AJ asked, looking at her in confusion. A husky laugh left Marlon, scratching the back of his neck as he looked at her. “Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised. She learned a lot of sass from Omar and Sophie.” Marlon commented, gasping as Rosie headbutted his leg, “See?”.

 

The boy giggled, looking at the dog, “I can’t stay mad at you Rosie. Cause you’re a good girl. That’s right? Who’s the best girl?” AJ giggled out, watching the dog bounce around in excitement.

 

“Shit, it’ll take me ages to calm her down now. While I try to calm her down, why don’t you go and put away the spears?” Marlon asked, crouching down to pet Rosie.

 

AJ nodded, taking both of their spears and heading to the shed. He glanced around as he entered, it had changed so much since he first showed up. Everyone had been working on tidying up, getting rid of that old bathtub, cleaning up the basic room to be a cleaner shed. That was mainly due to Brody and Mitch spending a lot of nights here so they could keep working on the truck. They got a lot of good supplies from the Delta crates, which boosted the trucks performance a lot.

 

As he moved around. AJ noticed the carved out heart behind the curtain. He grimaced a bit, ‘M+V’. With a soft sigh, he took out his knife, scratching it out, “I hope your happier wherever you guys ended up.” He whispered, leaving to put away the spears.

 

After putting the spears down, AJ returned outside, watching in surprise as Rosie hurried to the side of the shed. He looked at Marlon, who shrugged, grabbing his bow cautiously. AJ hurried over, taking out his gun just in case. You never know.

 

The two boys heard a thud, grimacing in concern. Marlon let out a hesitant whistle, hoping for a response from Rosie. All he heard was strange noises, making them grow concerned, hurrying over until they saw what it was. “Holy shit…” Marlon gasped, seeing who Rosie had knocked over.

 

“Rosie, off! Off!” Minerva gently pushed the dog off, standing up. Blue met green, the teens staring at each other until AJ rushed over, hugging her. Minnie softly gasped, before slowly returning it, “You guys got out. I was so worried.”.

 

“Clearly not, considering you ran off…” Marlon bitterly remarked, putting his bow away. His words hurt her, making the taller girl frown as she looked at the ground. He had every right to hate her guts…

 

After all...she got Louis killed.

 

_ But in some sick way it was even. _

 

“You’ve been gone for two weeks, we didn’t know if you would ever come back, or if you were alive. Where were you?” AJ asked.

 

She looked down at the smaller boy, taking a shaky breath. “I ended up just...walking for a long time. I couldn’t bring myself to face you guys after everything. But I decided to come back, it wasn’t right to you...to...to Tenn especially.” God, she was a horrible sister. Sophie had died and she ran off, leaving him all alone.

 

AJ grimaced thinking about his best friend, Tenn had become so much more distant since Minnie never came back….

 

“He missed you, he did.” AJ said. Minnie grimaced, nodding slowly.

 

There was a silence between the three before Minnie gasped, “Shit, that’s right! I found this.”. Reaching back into her jacket, Minnie pulled out an all too familiar hat. It was a nasty color and reeked, but it was back. Clementine’s hat was back.

 

Marlon looked down at it, putting his hands on his hips, “You should keep it, AJ.”.

 

“No, it wouldn’t fit on me. I’ll hold onto it though.” AJ said, pocketing the hat. He gave the boy a sad smile, before glaring back at Minnie, noticing she clearly wanted to say more. “Spit it out already, Minerva.”.

 

The tone in his voice made her grimace, but she needed to tell him. “I...While I was walking around, I saw them… Louis and Violet. There was almost nothing left. Nothing… Y-you..fuck you could see their bones. They...I couldn’t put them down, they were too far into the crowd. And I know it was them because of their clothes.”

 

Pale blue eyes widened as they processed the words she spoke. Without missing another moment, he looked out into the forest that surrounded them. “Where?” Was all he asked.

 

She pointed behind her, gesturing back to the bridge. The blonde teen nodded, checking how many arrows he had.

 

“Are you going to make sure he isn’t hurting anymore?” AJ’s voice caught him off guard, making him look back and see the young boy behind him. His frown deepened, before nodding slowly. ”Will you ever come back?”AJ asked. Marlon opened his mouth, but slowly closed it. AJ frowned a bit nodded. “It’s okay if you don’t come back. Clem says everyone has their own ways of dealing with their trauma.”

 

“Clem is… yeah, she’s right about that.” Marlon crouched to his level, “But I promise, I will come back. And to prove it, I want you to hold onto this for me.”. Much to AJ’s shock, Marlon started removing his signature Ericson’s lettermans jacket. Even Minnie had been surprised, she can’t remember him ever taking that thing off, it was like an extension of him nearly.

 

AJ looked up in shock, “Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah, I know you’ll take good care of it.” AJ nodded slowly, holding the jacket close. Marlon gave a small smile, before turning to Rosie. He crouches down and pets her head, holding a sad smile. “You gotta stay”

 

Rosie whines in response licking his face, not wanting her owner to go off by himself out there. He just shakes his head and stands to look at AJ and Minnie. This was harder than he thought, saying goodbye to his perfect girl.

 

 “Can you sure she follows you guys? I don’t want her trying to follow me out there.” Minnie grimaces but gives a curt nod, nudging AJ lightly on the shoulder while grabbing the bucket. “C’mon, lets...lets head back. I think it’s time to go home.” AJ nods and whistles for Rosie once they start walking back, she whines hesitating next to Marlon before following.

 

They walk back in silence, it’s not an awkward tense feeling, it’s..peaceful, one that’s welcomed in the warmth of the day. Rosie walks between the two, AJ looking around as the leaves fall, giggling when one lands in the bucket.

 

Minnie had been mulling over something to say but quiets her thoughts seeing MItch run into view in front of their path, calling back to someone and the brightest smile coming across his features when Brody shows up behind him holding a rabbit on her shoulder and taking his hand. She feels a small twinge in her chest seeing the two still so in love, having missed being able to express that feeling with those she had grown close to before running off.

 

They keep walking, coming across Omar hammering down a sign that’s painted to say “Don’t fuck with us”, Abel’s corspe next to it for good measure. Minnie nearly jumps out her skin seeing Willy climb down from a random tree. The young boy ran over to Brody and Mitch, each of them taking each other's hands.

 

“How did he even get up there???” AJ shrugged watching Rosie run in front of them.

 

“I don’t know, I don’t question Willy.” 

 

“That’s probably for the best.” Minerva shakes her head and looks to see who’s on guard, the ache in her chest hitting her like a truck seeing it’s Tenn.

 

Tennessee had been watching to make sure everyone came back safe, though he doesn't speak much to anyone he still takes his job on guard very seriously. Minnie can see his face light up seeing her as he waves and runs down  to greet her once the two have passed the gate and AJ closed it behind them.

 

“Minerva!” He bulldozes into her nearly knocking her over as he buries his face into her stomach and clings to her like she’ll disappear if she lightens up. “You’re back.”

 

She smiled hugging him back with the same amount of ferocity “I am, and I’m so sorry I ever left. It wasn’t- god it wasn’t fair to you or anyone else.” She looks up sadly scanning her eyes over the group.

 

“Please forgive me, I...I never wanted any of you to get hurt...”

 

The others stood in quiet silence, none of them having thought they’d ever see her again. Some hold glares and hurt expressions, hesitant to accept her back after having been gone for long, having made them thought she was dead. But really before anyone can say anything a voice from behind the group pipes up.

 

“What’re you guys doing?”

 

They all turned around shocked, seeing Clementine up in a set of crutches. “Clem, you shouldn’t be up yet!” Aasim quickly shouted, but the girl ignored him, making her way over.

 

“Clementine!” AJ runs over pushing through the crowd hugging her.

  
“Woah! Easy there goofball.” She smiles hugging him back. Brody looks close to tears coming over and giving Clem a quick side hug. “You’re awake, and standing to boot!” she chirped letting go. Ruby smile but ress her hands on her hips looking Clementine up and down.

 

 “I thought I told you to keep restin. You ain’t ready to be up and adam yet” Ruby stated, folding her arms over her chest. “Who’s adam?” AJ questioned, making the Southern bell snicker.

 

AJ stays close to Clem and glances back at Minerva, who hasn’t moved from her shocked stance some feet away. “I’ll let you guys talk, I’m not good at it but you are. Then I wanna hang out.”  

 

“Heh, alright. I won’t be long.” She smiles and watches him run off to Tenn and Willy before hobbling over to Minnie. 

 

“It’s good to see you back.” The taller girl let out a soft gasp as she lifted her head up, staring at Clementine in shock.

 

“C-Clementine I..I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have-” whatever rant Minnie was about to begin is cut of by Clem moving and giving her the best kiss she could. Minerva’s brain short circuited, staring at Clem.

 

Clem chuckled softly at her reaction. “Yes, before you go asking, we are still girlfriends.” She said, a small smile on her face. Minerva’s cheeks reddened, returning the smile finally as she hugged Clementine, “Thank you.”.

 

“You can thank me after you clean up, you reek.” Clementine fake gagged, making Minerva chuckle. Despite the smell comment, Clementine closed her eyes, relishing in having her back.

 

 But their hug must come to an end, and she pulls away balancing herself with Minnie’s assistance. “Go talk to Tenn, I know he’s missed you just as much as me.” Minnie nods before going to talk to him, hoping with Tenn and Clem backing her she can talk to the others again and find her place in the school again.

 

AJ comes back over and slowly the two head past where the graves are, he follows her and smiles starstruck seeing the tire swing hung up. He runs over examining it all the while grinning from ear to ear.

 

“Willy and Mitch set it up, hope you like it.”

 

“I love it!” he beams as he hops on, giggling and cheering as clem pushes him. “I’m flying!”

 

Clementine laughs and keeps pushing him until Omar had called for lunch. God, she was starving. “Come on goofball, let’s go eat. We all know how Omar is if we’re late.” Clem smiled, watching AJ hop off the tire swing and run ahead. She let out a gentle sigh, making her way after him, however she paused as she passed the graveyard area.

 

Sophie’s grave had a beautiful portrait of herself done by Tennessee, some of the purple flowers from around the school taped to it...they were her favorite. Brody’s wood piece had been personally broken by Mitch, wanting to ignore the past and enjoy that she was alive. Violet’s was still there for the memory of who she once was. And Louis’ had the picture of him and Marlon from the Headmaster’s office put in front of it.

 

“Wherever you guys are, I hope your happy. We’re all alive because of you. I haven’t known you all too long, but I didn’t need to see what amazing people you were.” Mouthing a goodbye, she made her way to the tables.

 

They all used to fill up four tables, but after everything, they pushed two of the tables together so they all could be next to each other. AJ rushed over, sitting between Willy and Tenn. Clem smiled, sitting between Minerva and Brody, who was casually smootching face with Mitch.

 

Willy rolled his eyes, before getting at idea. Taking his spoon, he waited for when they weren’t looking, and fired. It hit them both, making them stop and look stunned. Several seconds passed, and Brody burst into laughter as Mitch climbed out of his seat. Willy climbed out of his seat, running as Mitch began to chase him. 

 

Aasim rolled his eyes, enjoying as Ruby gave him a bite of her soup. Omar groaned, there were too many couples.

 

Clementine softly chuckled, looking over as AJ took off his jacket, replacing it with Marlon’s letterman. She sadly smiled, looking at him. God, she hoped Maron found what he was looking for.

 

Marlon ran through the forest, remembering in distinct detail on the way they had come from. He heard some noises behind him, making him turn around shocked, ready to attack whoever it was. However, as he turned around he quickly realized it was James. The two boys stared at each other, stunned, before Marlon moved towards him, hugging him. James slowly returned it, both holding each other in an embrace before pulling away. Marlon told him his plan, pointing to where he was going. To his surprise, James took his hand, offering to go with him. The blonde nodded, the two of them going.

 

Clementine let out a soft sigh, she was getting tired. “Come on goofball, I’m getting tired.” She said. AJ nodded, waving goodbye to Tenn. The younger boy waved, and ran to his sister.

 

Clem was the first inside, letting AJ go in, Rosie following him. The young boy glanced around as he walked, this place had become their home.

 

Home. It was still such a strange concept to him.

 

The boy entered the room he and Clementine shared, looking around. All their collectibles made it feel so much nicer. Rosie hurried under the bed, making AJ snicker. “The bed is a lot comfier than the floor Rosie. I know.” AJ smiled, walking over to the cabinet and putting Clementine’s hat down.

 

“Hey AJ, come on out here!” Willy shouted. AJ smiled, turning away, and leaving the hat in it’s spot.

  
  
  
  
  


Thank you for reading and joining me on this wonderful adventure. A special thanks to my best friend, Allison, for helping me finish off this wonderful story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As much as it hurts to do this, all things come to an end.
> 
> There will be one more chapter, and that's statuses


	27. You Left...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it...the last written part of waiting around to die, I can't believe it. Thanks again for helping me Allison

You left Brody feeling GRATEFUL

  * Brody was relieved you trusted her enough to follow her
  * Brody was shocked when you saved her from being taken again
  * Brody was ecstatic to be reunited with Mitch



 

You left Minerva feeling GRIEVING

  * Minerva was shattered learning the truth of Brody and Violet’s disappearance
  * She was astonished when you confessed you shared her feelings
  * Minerva felt abandoned when you let her be captured
  * Louis’ death left her devastated



 

Sophie DECEASED

  * Seeing how happy you made her sister, Sophie was gleeful
  * Sophie was enraged when you let her sister be taken
  * Sophie was with Violet’s betrayal, going to fight her



 

You left Marlon feeling REDEEMED

  * Marlon was infuriated when you revealed what he did to the girls
  * Despite all the hate he got, Marlon was supportive while setting up for the raiders
  * Marlon was traumatized witnessing his best friends death
  * After searching for Louis, he ran into James, thankful for the support from the others between them



 

Louis DECEASED

  * Louis was heartbroken when you rejected his feelings
  * Louis felt guilt ridden when Minerva was taken
  * You left Louis in pain when you allowed his finger to be cut off



 

You left James feeling CONFLICTED

  * James was hesitant upon meeting you for the first time
  * James was enraged when you let AJ kill Lilly
  * After talking him down, James acted defensive, protecting you in the caves



 

You left AJ feeling CONFUSED

  * AJ was left unsettled when you let Abel turn
  * AJ confessed to feeling sick after he killed Lilly
  * AJ was saddened when Marlon left



 

Omar is thankful this is all over

 

Ruby was thankful you helped her bury Ms. Martin

 

Aasim was moved when you comforted him about his sisters

 

Willy was terrified during his time with DELTA

 

Mitch was relieved to be reunited with Brody

 

Rosie is worried for her human

 

Tenn is concerned for his sister


End file.
